Wisconsin State Capitol / Adobe Stock
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled July 2 that an 1849 state law that almost entirely protected unborn life was not triggered by the US Supreme Court’s 2022 landmark ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson that returned abortion regulation to the state level.
Reuters reported that the 4-3 ruling left in place a 2015 law that protects life after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The judges ruled that despite the fact that the 1849 law was never repealed, other laws, including the 2015 law, have instead become substitutes for it.
“That comprehensive legislation so thoroughly covers the entire subject of abortion that it was clearly meant as a substitute for the 19th century near-total ban on abortion,” Justice Rebecca Dallet wrote in the court’s decision, according to Reuters.
However, Justice Annette Ziegler dissented, claiming that the other justices could not dismiss a law that had not been formally repealed by the state legislature.
Reuters reported that the lawsuit began shortly after the US Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, when Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, sued a Republican district attorney, Joel Urmanski, who claimed that the 1849 law could now be enforced.
According to the outlet, the old law allowed abortions only in instances when the mother’s life was in danger. Violations carried a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.
Reuters reported that liberals had become the majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court for the first time in 15 years in 2023, which was preserved after Susan Crawford, a Democrat-backed candidate, beat Republican-backed candidate Brad Schimel in April. CatholicVote previously reported that the race in the notorious battleground state was closely watched for implications for national politics, as it acted as a check on public perceptions of the Trump administration.
Reuters reported that “the contest was the most expensive judicial election in U.S. history,” with Elon Musk, then a Trump advisor, and other conservative groups spending more than $20 million to win Schimel the race. Crawford is set to join the state Supreme Court in August.
