In 1849, Wisconsin passed an abortion ban with no exceptions. This stood until Roe v. Wade became the law of the land. When the fascist faction of SCOTUS overturned it, Wisconsin went back to the 174-year-old law. This was immediately challenged and in December 2023, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Diane Schlipper ruled that the ban applied only to feticide from someone other than the mother and did not apply to abortions. This ruling was then appealed until it ended up in front of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Those in favor of the law strictly argued that the law is the law and were not at all concerned whether it was even a just law. While those opposed to the ban argued that it was unenforceable because it was so poorly written and because over the generations, other laws concerning abortions superseded the old law.
At least two of the Supreme Court Justices, Rebecca Dallet and Jill Karofsky, made it clear that they had real issues with the old law. Dallet pointed out that the law was not reflective of where we are as a society today and did not apply equally to everyone:
Liberal Justice Rebecca Dallet quickly challenged the validity of the 19th Century-era law, emphasizing that it was passed before women and men had equal rights.
“In 1849, the only people who had rights were white men with property,” Dallet said.
