Restrictions

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Wisconsin Attorney General, the Department of Safety and Professional Services, and the Medical Examining Board filed a lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that the 1849 pre-Roe criminal abortion ban is unenforceable.^[1]Kaul et al. v. Kapenga et al., Case No. 2022-CV-001594 (Wis. Cir. Ct. June 28, 2022) (complaint).

Wisconsin law generally prohibits abortion at twenty weeks post-fertilization and post-viability.^[2]WIS. STAT. § 253.107(3); id. § 940.15. The state has not repealed its unconstitutional ban on D&X procedures.^[3]Id. § 940.16; see Hope Clinic v. Ryan, 249 F.3d 603, 606 (7th Cir. 2001). Pregnant people who seek abortion care must undergo a mandatory twenty-four-hour waiting period, biased counseling, and an ultrasound.^[4]WIS. STAT. § 253.10. Wisconsin also limits public funding for,^[5]Id. § 20.927. and private insurance coverage of, abortion.^[6]Id. § 632.8985. Wisconsin law generally requires that a parent, legal guardian, adult family member, foster parent,^[7]Id. § 48.375. or judge^[8]Id. § 48.375. consent to a minor’s abortion.

Wisconsin’s targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP) laws include requirements related to facilities,^[9]WIS. ADMIN. CODE MED. § 11.04. permanently enjoined admitting privileges,^[10]WIS. STAT. § 253.095(2); Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, Inc. v. Schimel, 806 F.3d 908 (Nov. 23, 2015). transfer agreements,^[11]WIS. ADMIN. CODE MED. § 11.04 and reporting.^[12]WIS. STAT. § 69.186. Wisconsin law restricts the provision of abortion care to physicians and restricts providers from using telemedicine for the provision of abortion care.^[13]Id. §§ 940.15(5), 253.105(2)(b), challenged by Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin Inc. v. Kaul, 384 F. Supp. 3d 982 (W.D. Wis. 2019), aff’d 942 F.3d 793 (7^th Cir. 2019). Providers who violate Wisconsin’s abortion restrictions may face civil and criminal penalties.^[14]See, e.g., WIS. STAT. § 253.10; WIS. STAT. § 253.107(4).

State Protections

Wisconsin law does not include express constitutional or statutory protections for abortion, but it does include protections for clinic safety by prohibiting trespassing.^[15]WIS. STAT. § 943.145.

Post-Roe Prohibitions

Wisconsin has a pre-Roe ban^[16]Id. § 940.04. that has been interpreted to apply only to the crime of feticide,^[17]State v. Black, 188 Wis. 2d 639, 526 N.W.2d 132 (1994). which the Wisconsin Attorney General and others are challenging as uneforceable.^[18]Kaul et al. v. Kapenga et al., Case No. 2022-CV-001594 (Wis. Cir. Ct. June 28, 2022) (complaint).

Conclusion

Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe, Wisconsin legislators will try to prohibit abortion. The current governor is supportive of abortion rights and the Attorney General has sued the Speaker and Majority Leader of the Wisconsin Legislature seeking a declaratory judgment that the pre-Roe ban is unenforceable.