Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court Feb. 22 to find a 174-year-old state law banning abortion unconstitutional. It is the second legal action to challenge the 1849 statute since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, according to a press release from Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.
By taking the petition to the Wisconsin Supreme Court without a ruling from any lower courts, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin aims to prompt a broader conversation and decision about the right to an abortion, according to Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin’s Director of Communications Analiese Eicher.
The petition argues the Wisconsin State Constitution’s declaration that people have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness applies to women’s right to bodily autonomy, according to the release.
“The right to life and liberty, including the right to make one’s own decisions about whether or not to give birth and medical decisions related to pregnancy or abortion care from a chosen health care provider,” the petition said. “So, too, is a physician’s right to practice medicine, her chosen profession, and fulfill her ethical obligations of the practice of medicine.”
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Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin’s decision to pursue a petition comes after Attorney General Josh Kaul won a related appeal of a lower court ruling, arguing the law is too old to enforce and a 1985 law supersedes the ban.
“We are in absolute agreement with the Attorney General’s case, but our case is asking the court also to establish and say that Wisconsin’s constitution absolutely protects the right to an abortion and the right to provide abortion,” Eicher said.
The court has not said whether it will hear Planned Parenthood of Wisconisn’s case or a appeal of Kaul’s case, according to the Associated Press.
The ruling in Kaul’s case allowed Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin to resume providing abortion services last September, according to previous reporting from The Badger Herald.
Sheboygan County District Attorney Joel Urmanski is defending the 1849 statute as a ban and said in December he would appeal the Dane County ruling. He filed a petition with the Wisconsin Supreme Court this month asking the justices to take on the case without a ruling from a lower appeals court, according to CBS News.
A Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling on Planned Parenthood’s case would directly impact many Wisconsin citizens and reshape abortion discourse, Eicher said.
“For folks who are impacted, this is about access to health care and a right to health care,” Eicher said. “There are questions about who and when and how. It’s everyone. This about our right to bodily autonomy, including the right to abortion and accessing that healthcare specifically.”
If the high court takes on the case and recognizes Wisconsin’s law banning abortion as unconstitutional, Eicher says Planned Parenthood will also consider challenging other abortion restrictions. This would include Wisconsin’s 24-hour waiting period and a law mandating that the same doctor must be present at appointments and administer drugs for medical abortions.
