Wisconsin Supreme Court Overturns Abortion Ban from 1849

The Wisconsin Supreme Court invalidated an abortion ban from 1849, settling an uncertainty surrounding the state’s abortion laws since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.

The Details: The court struck down the ban in a 4-3 decision, with the court's four liberal justices in favor of striking it down and the three conservative justices in opposition. The 1849 state law stated that anyone other than the pregnant woman “who intentionally destroys the life of an unborn child” could face criminal punishment. Some doctors and clinics stopped providing abortions after Roe v. Wade was overturned because some prosecutors said they would enforce the law.

For Context: The Wisconsin Supreme Court election in April of this year was the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history, with figures such as former president Barack Obama and Elon Musk involving themselves in the race.

How The Media Covered It: New York Times (Lean Left bias) included a statement from the governor of Wisconsin, who said, “Today is a win for women and families, a win for health care professionals… and a win for basic freedoms in Wisconsin.” Fox News (Right bias) wrote that the decision is “the clearest sign to date of the impact that liberals on the bench could have after they regained the court majority in 2023 for the first time in 15 years.” Newsweek (Center bias) quoted conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn’s dissent, saying, “This is pure policymaking, driven by antagonism toward a law the majority does not like. The end result is that the policies enacted by the people's representatives are gone—scratched out with a giant judicial eraser.”

Revised by the AllSides staff (of humans) after a first draft from our custom AI. Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.