Republican prosecutor will appeal judge's ruling invalidating Wisconsin's 174-year-old abortion ban
MADISON, Wis. — A Republican prosecutor said Wednesday he plans to appeal the court's ruling that Wisconsin law allows abortions, the first step toward a possible showdown at the state Supreme Court over abortion rights.
Sheboygan County District Attorney Joel Urmanski issued a statement through his attorneys saying he disagreed with Dane County Circuit Judge Diane Schlipper's ruling in July and that state law clearly prohibits abortions, including “consensual medical abortions.”
The case appears destined to end up in the state Supreme Court.
Liberal justices currently have a four-to-three majority on the court, making it unlikely that conservatives will prevail at that level. However, Urmanski could continue the process until after the 2025 spring election, hoping that liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley loses re-election and conservatives regain control of the court.
At issue is an 1849 Wisconsin law that conservatives have interpreted as banning abortion. The June 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion, reinstated the law. Abortion providers subsequently ceased operations in the state for fear of violating the ban.
Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit days after the Supreme Court ruling, challenging the ban's validity. He argued that the statutes were too old to enforce, and that a 1985 law allowing abortions before fetuses can survive outside the womb trumps the ban. Three doctors later joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs, saying they fear being sued for performing abortions.
Urmanski defends the ban in court. The city of Sheboygan is home to one of three Planned Parenthood clinics in Wisconsin that perform abortions. The others are in Madison and Milwaukee.
Schlipper ruled last July that the legal language in the ban does not use the term “abortion,” so the law only prohibits assaulting a woman in an attempt to kill her unborn child. Her findings did not formally end the lawsuit, but Planned Parenthood felt confident enough in the ruling to resume abortion procedures at their clinics in Madison and Milwaukee in September.
Urmanski later filed a motion asking Schlipper to reconsider her ruling. She declined in a 14-page opinion released Tuesday, writing that Urmanski failed to show how she misapplied state law or made any other mistake and declared that prosecutors had won the lawsuit.
She has also denied doctors' request to issue an injunction banning prosecutors from suing abortion providers, saying her confidante's accusers will follow her ruling.
Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, both Democrats, have said they will abide by Schlipper's ruling. Urmanski has said he would also adhere to it. He reiterated in his statement on Tuesday that he is obliged to follow the ruling unless it is stayed on appeal.
Julaine Appling, president of the anti-abortion group Wisconsin Family Action, called Schlipper's interpretation of the law a regression that will cost the lives of future Wisconsin citizens.
“We are pleased to know that DA Urmanski plans to appeal this egregious decision,” she said in a statement.
Kaul said Wednesday morning at a news conference before Urmanski's announcement that he fully expected an appeal.
“This decision can be appealed. I expect that will probably be the case,” Kaul said. “And so other courts will think about this. But for now, this is a major victory for reproductive freedom in Wisconsin, and we are prepared to defend that victory and reproductive freedom as we move forward.”
Wisconsin Senate Republican Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu's district includes Sheboygan. He told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday afternoon that he was pleased to see Urmanski plans to appeal. If the ban is ultimately declared invalid, Republican lawmakers will consider other legislation, he said. He didn't work it out.
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Associated Press writer Scott Bauer contributed to this report.