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U.S.|Wisconsin Supreme Court Strikes Down 1849 Abortion Ban
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/us/wisconsin-abortion-1849-supreme-court.html
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After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Republican prosecutors in Wisconsin had said they intended to enforce the old law.
July 2, 2025, 9:44 a.m. ET
The Wisconsin Supreme Court invalidated a state abortion ban on Wednesday that was enacted in 1849 and had been dormant for the last five decades.
The decision settles an uncertainty that has surrounded abortion law in the state since June 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to an abortion nationwide.
“Comprehensive legislation enacted over the last 50 years regulating in detail the ‘who, what, where, when, and how’ of abortion so thoroughly covers the entire subject of abortion that it was meant as a substitute for the 19th century near-total ban on abortion,” Justice Rebecca Dallet wrote in the opinion Wednesday.
The 1849 state law had said that anyone other than the pregnant woman “who intentionally destroys the life of an unborn child” could face six years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The only exception was for abortions to save the life of the pregnant woman.
After reversal of Roe returned the regulation of abortion to the states, Gov. Tony Evers and the attorney general, Josh Kaul, sued to invalidate the 1849 ban. They argued that it had been effectively repealed over the years by other abortion regulations, including a law that prohibits abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and one that imposes a 24-hour waiting period for abortions.
But some prosecutors said they would enforce the 1849 law, prompting doctors and clinics to cease providing abortions in the state for nearly 18 months.
