Wisconsin Supreme Court to consider whether 175-year-old law bans abortion

The Wisconsin Supreme Court decided Tuesday, July 2, to consider two challenges to a 175-year-old law that conservatives maintain bans abortion without letting the cases wind through lower courts.

The two cases question if the state’s 1849 law does indeed bar abortion and if abortion is a protected right by Wisconsin’s state constitution. The case is in part brought by Planned Parenthood.

The 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade led to the activation of Wisconsin’s 1849 law, criminalizing intentional destruction of an unborn child’s life, excluding the mother.