Wisconsin Republicans set to reject repeal of abortion ban
MADISON, Wis. — Republican legislators in Wisconsin were poised Wednesday to meet in a special session that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers called to repeal the battleground state's dormant abortion ban and quickly adjourn without taking any action.
Wisconsin adopted a ban on abortion except to save the mother's life in 1849, a year after the territory became a state. The U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that essentially legalized abortion nationwide in 1973 nullified the ban.
The court is expected to rule this month in a case that could end Roe v. Wade, which would allow Wisconsin's ban to go back into effect. Evers on June 8 called the Legislature into a special session Wednesday to repeal the ban.
Republicans have blasted the move as a political stunt designed to please the Democratic base as Evers faces reelection in November. GOP leaders in the Assembly and Senate planned to gavel in to start the special session around noon Wednesday and then end it by gaveling out immediately.
The state ban will likely be challenged in court should Roe v. Wade be overturned.
One major question is how the ban would interact with a related state law passed in 1985 that prohibits abortions after the fetus has reached viability but has an exemption for women whose health could be endangered by continuing the pregnancy. Abortion-rights groups have argued for a broad interpretation of that exemption to include a woman's emotional and mental health.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, has said he thinks the 1849 law is too old to enforce. He has also said he will not investigate or prosecute doctors who perform abortions if the old law does take effect again.
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, which operates three clinics that provide abortions in the state, has stopped scheduling procedures beyond June 25 in anticipation of the Supreme Court decision. Other abortion clinics across the country also have halted scheduling.
The special session Wednesday came six weeks after the Madison office of the anti-abortion group Wisconsin Family Action was vandalized. Police have yet to arrest anyone.
Tim Michels, a Republican candidate for governor endorsed by former President Donald Trump, this week called on Evers to put the Wisconsin National Guard on notice for similar acts and prepare for "impending acts of mass civil disobedience" if Roe v. Wade is overturned.
