By Bill Osmulski
Planned Parenthood is back in operation in Wisconsin on Monday, September 18, 2023, after a Dane County judge determined that the 1849 state law banning abortions doesn’t actually ban abortions.
Planned Parenthood was forced to stop performing abortions in June 2022, after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. That meant Wisconsin’s 1849 law was back in effect for the first time since 1973.
However, even though it was unenforceable, Wisconsin lawmakers had made a few changes to the law over the years. Not wanting to appear uncompassionate to moms, they made abortion a Class H felony for everyone except the child’s mother. They also ensured that if someone murdered a pregnant woman, they would be charged with homicide and abortion.
After Roe v. Wade was overturned, the state’s Attorney General Josh Kaul sued the state over the 1849 law in Dane County Court. (Since the state can’t really sue itself, Kaul named the leaders of the Wisconsin Legislature as the defendants.)
In July, the lawmakers asked that the case be dismissed. Instead, Dane County Judge Diane Schlipper stated that the state law banning abortions did not, in fact, ban abortions. Instead, it only bans “feticide,” which is “act or instance of killing a fetus, usually by assaulting and battering.” Interestingly, Wisconsin’s abortion law doesn’t mention feticide, assault, or battery.
“One liberal judge declared that the state law does not apply to abortion. Statute s. 940.04 is clear and see that is nonsense. It absolutely applies to abortion. Planned Parenthood’s brazen move is in total disregard for the rule of law,” Rep. Chuck Wichgers (R-Muskego) stated.
Not that it matters. Wisconsin’s justice system is dominated by liberals who are determined to make abortion legal. From the state’s Attorney General to the Dane County Court House to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
As WBAY-TV pointed out, “regardless of how the Dane County court eventually rules, the lawsuit is expected to be appealed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which has a liberal majority for the first time in 15 years.”
On Thursday, September 14th, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced that it would be resuming abortions in Milwaukee and Madison on Monday. It started taking appointments that day. Liberals erupted in celebration on social media and laid out their plans to build off that victory.
Sen. Melissa Agard (D-Madison) said it wasn’t enough that abortions would be available in Wisconsin. She wants the state to “expand access” to everyone in the state. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) stated that she plans to fight for a federal law that makes abortion legal everywhere.