After Roe Fell: U.S. Abortion Laws by State

Hostile

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is enforcing a twenty week LMP ban.

State Legal Details

Bans in Effect

  • Gestational Ban, 20-week LMP
  • Gestational Ban, Viability
  • Medication Abortion, Telemedicine Ban

Bans Enjoined

  • Method Ban

Restrictions in Effect

  • Biased Counseling Requirement
  • Mandatory Ultrasound Requirement
  • Parental Involvement, Parental Consent Requirement
  • Parental Involvement, Parental Notification Requirement
  • TRAP Requirements: Facilities, Facility Requirements
  • TRAP requirements: Providers, Reporting Requirement
  • TRAP requirements: Providers, Transfer Agreement Requirement
  • Waiting Period Requirement

State Protections

Wisconsin law does not include express constitutional or statutory protections for abortion, however, the state protects clinic safety by imposing criminal penalties for trespassing.1

Restrictions

Wisconsin law generally prohibits abortion at twenty weeks LMP2 and post-viability.3 The state prohibits D&X procedures,4 however, enforcement of this statute is permanently enjoined.5 Pregnant people who seek abortion care must undergo a mandatory twenty-four-hour waiting period, biased counseling, and an ultrasound6 before providing written informed consent to the abortion.7 Wisconsin law generally requires that a parent, legal guardian, adult family member or foster parent, or judge consent to a minor’s abortion.8 Wisconsin also limits public funding for,9 and private insurance coverage of abortion.10

Wisconsin’s targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP) laws include requirements related to facilities,11 transfer agreements,12 and reporting.13 Wisconsin also requires abortion providers to have admitting privileges in a hospital within 30 miles of the location where the abortion is to be performed, however enforcement of this statute is permanently enjoined.14 Wisconsin law restricts the provision of abortion care to physicians.15 The state also limits the use of telemedicine and mail for abortion care by requiring that the physician who prescribes the medication abortion must perform a physical exam and be in the room when the pregnant person takes the medication.16 Providers who violate Wisconsin’s abortion restrictions may face civil and criminal penalties.17

Historical Restrictions

In July 2025, the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the state’s pre-Roe 1849 criminal abortion ban,18 finding the ban to be superseded by subsequent legislation governing abortion care, including the state’s current twenty-week ban.19

Conclusion

Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe, Wisconsin is enforcing a twenty-week LMP ban.

  1. Wis. Stat. § 943.145. ↩︎
  2. Wis. Stat. § 253.107 (providing exceptions for care necessitated by a medical emergency). ↩︎
  3. Wis. Stat. § 940.15 (imposes a felony penalty for abortions performed after reaching viability, unless necessary to preserve the life or health of the pregnant person). ↩︎
  4. Wis. Stat. § 940.16. ↩︎
  5. Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U.S. 914 (2000); Hope Clinic v. Ryan, 249 F.3d 603, 606 (7th Cir. 2001). ↩︎
  6. Wis. Stat. § 253.10(3)(c). ↩︎
  7. Wis. Stat. § 253.10(3)(b). Some of these requirements may be waived in cases of medical emergency, sexual assault, or incest. See Wis. Stat. § 253.10(3)(f), (3m). ↩︎
  8. Wis. Stat. § 48.375. ↩︎
  9. Wis. Stat. § 20.927. ↩︎
  10. Wis. Stat. § 632.8985. ↩︎
  11. Wis. Admin. Code Med. § 11.04. ↩︎
  12. Wis. Admin. Code Med. § 11.04. ↩︎
  13. Wis. Stat. § 69.186. Wis. Stat. § 253.095(2); Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, Inc. v. Schimel, 806 F.3d 908 (7th Cir. 2015). ↩︎
  14. Wis. Stat. § 253.095(2); Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, Inc. v. Schimel, 806 F.3d 908 (7th Cir. 2015). ↩︎
  15. Wis. Stat. § 940.15(5). ↩︎
  16. Wis. Stat. § 253.105(2). ↩︎
  17. See, e.g., Wis. Stat. §§ 253.10, 253.107(4), 940.15(5). ↩︎
  18. Wis. Stat. § 940.04(1). ↩︎
  19. Kaul v. Urmanski, 2025 WI 32 (Wis. 2025);Wis. Stat. § 253.107(3). ↩︎