Wisconsin Supreme Court Strikes Down Abortion Ban

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court has struck down the state’s 176-year-old abortion ban. The court’s liberal majority ruled 4-3 on Wednesday that the ban is no longer valid because newer abortion restrictions superseded it. State lawmakers adopted the total ban in 1849. It was in effect until 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nullified it, and was never repealed. Conservatives argued that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe reactivated the prohibition. Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul sued, arguing that a 1985 state law that prohibits abortions after viability essentially repealed the ban.