Planned Parenthood release misleads about Wisconsin law

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Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin is currently distributing a misleading press release concerning the Wisconsin Statutes.

The release states, “Wisconsin also has a Criminal Abortion Statute (Wis. Stat. § 940.04) remaining on its books. If Roe v. Wade were to be overturned under a McCain Administration, Wisconsin physicians who perform abortions could be charged with a felony, fined up to $50,000 and imprisoned for up to 15 years. Women who seek abortions could be charged with a felony, fined up to $10,000 and imprisoned for up to 3 ½ years.”

As the authors of the press release well know, however, Wis. Stat. 940.13 expressly provides that a woman cannot be prosecuted for having an abortion. The statute, enacted in 1985, long after sec. 940.04, provides:

“940.13 Abortion exception. No fine or imprisonment may be imposed or enforced against and no prosecution may be brought against a woman who obtains an abortion or otherwise violates any provision of any abortion statute with respect to her unborn child or fetus, and s. 939.05, 939.30 or 939.31 does not apply to a woman who obtains an abortion or otherwise violates any provision of any abortion statute with respect to her unborn child or fetus.”

Outraged at the fabrication concerning Wisconsin statutes, I contacted Planned Parenthood, and received this response:

“[I]f Roe v. Wade is nullified, a court in Wisconsin would be required to read the competing statutes (940.04 and 940.13) so that both laws can be given effect. Just because sec. 940.13 was passed after 940.04 is not reason enough for a court to interpret sec. 940.13 as controlling. As part of statutory construction, that court may turn to the legislative history of sec. 940.13. A review of the history shows a clear intent to leave all of 940.04 intact–including the criminal penalties for women.

“Thus, Wisconsin women could very well face criminal penalties. There is no certainty either way, a court will ultimately decide. As long as sec. 940.04 remains on the books, the potential for criminal liability remains.”

This analysis conflicts with the most basic rules of statutory construction. No prosecution against a woman who gets or seeks an abortion could plausibly go forth in the face of 940.13.

Even if the strawman interpretation of the statutes put forth by Planned Parenthood was plausible, which it is not, the failure of the press release to make any mention of sec. 940.13 in its press release is highly misleading.

Despite being an adamant supporter of abortion on demand, I cannot condone, and must condemn, this deliberate misrepresentation of the facts concerning Wisconsin’s statutes, especially in the days immediately before an election.