173-year-old law allows only ‘therapeutic abortions.’ No one knows what that means, and health systems are scrambling to stay out of criminal trouble
The patient sat in Dr. Shefaali Sharma’s exam room, distraught. She was pregnant with her third child. Just weeks earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court had revoked the federally protected, constitutional right to an abortion, restoring Wisconsin’s near-total abortion ban from the 1800s.
Post-Roe differences surface in GOP over new abortion rules
When the U.S. Supreme Court in June a woman's constitutional right to an abortion in June, Wisconsin's 1849 law that bans the procedure except when a mother's life is at risk became newly relevant.
Planned Parenthood to spend record $50M in midterm elections
Planned Parenthood plans to spend a record $50 million ahead of November's midterm elections, pouring money into contests where access to abortion will be on the ballot.
Biden signs executive order to protect travel for abortion
President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order aimed in part at making it easier for women seeking abortions to travel between states to obtain access to the procedure.
After Roe’s overturning, Americans are demanding US Supreme Court term limits
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturning half a century of abortion rights under Roe v. Wade, nearly two-thirds of Americans want fundamental court reform, specifically term limits for Supreme Court justices.
Abortion access coordinated across Illinois-Wisconsin line
Planned Parenthood of Illinois is combining forces with its Wisconsin counterpart to help patients travel to get abortions following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, leaders at the reproductive health centers announced Thursday.
Judge strikes down most of Minnesota’s abortion restrictions
A judge declared most of Minnesota's restrictions on abortion unconstitutional on Monday, including the state's mandatory 24-hour waiting period and a requirement that both parents be notified before a minor can get an abortion.
The U.S. Supreme Court and politics
It would be pointless to write a column on the United States legal system and ignore the two significant cases which the court decided this week. One case, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen significantly expanded gun rights by striking down a New York law which restricted the right of New Yorkers to carry handguns in public.
States move to protect abortion from prosecutions elsewhere
Democratic governors in states where abortion will remain legal are looking for ways to protect any patients who travel there for the procedure — along with the providers who help them — from being prosecuted by their home states.
Abortion ruling puts spotlight on gerrymandered legislatures
In overturning a half-century of nationwide legal protection for abortion, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Roe v. Wade had been wrongly decided and that it was time to "return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives" in the states.
In flurry of court activity, rulings on abortion bans mixed
A federal court Tuesday allowed Tennessee to ban abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy, while in Texas — which is already enforcing a similar ban based on an embryo's cardiac activity — a judge temporarily blocked an even stricter decades-old law from taking effect.
Wisconsin’s Democratic AG sues to block state’s abortion ban
Wisconsin's Democratic attorney general filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the state's 173-year-old abortion ban, arguing that statutes passed in the 1980s supersede the ban and it's so old no one can say it passed with the consent of modern generations.
Legal News
- Owner of home health company convicted of $2.8M Medicare Fraud Scheme
- Justice Department awards $4.4 billion to support state, local, and Tribal public safety
- Wisconsin Senate committee votes against confirmation for four DNR policy board appointees
- Corn mill owners plead to federal charges in fatal explosion, will pay $11.25 million
- From bananas to baby socks, lawyers stick to routines before arguments
- Colleges should step up their diversity efforts after affirmative action ruling, the government says
- Wisconsin Supreme Court won’t hear longshot case trying to head off impeachment
- Havana Syndrome hits CIA, Congress in Wisconsin, Russia takes credit
- Wisconsin woman gets life without parole for killing and dismembering ex-boyfriend
- Judge rules Donald Trump defrauded banks, insurers as he built real estate empire
- Wisconsin sues Amazon for illegally maintaining monopoly power
- Wisconsin state Senate’s chief clerk, former Legislative Council attorney, resigns following undisclosed allegation
WLJ People
- Evers appoints McElroy as Price County district attorney
- Evers appoints Ann Peacock to Dane County Circuit Court
- Michael Best appoints Sarah Alt to new role as chief process and AI officer
- Attorney Peter Baziano joins Murphy Desmond in its Business and Real Estate practice groups
- GRGB partner Karnes honored at Run for Justice
- DeWitt’s Miotke reappointed to SPD’s Board
- Hupy and Abraham wins award for ‘Behind the Handlebars’ video series
- Evers appoints trio to Milwaukee County Circuit Court
- Kubiak joins Amundsen Davis’ Business Litigation Service Group
- GRGB partners Jason Luczak, Nicole Masnica honored with Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers award
- Teuta Jonuzi, Joshua Hargrove promoted to equity partners at Tracey Wood & Associates
- Reinhart’s Taggatz joins International Association of Defense Counsel