Filed Date: Feb. 22, 2024
Case Ongoing
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This case is about a challenge to 176-year-old Wisconsin Statute § 940.04, that prohibited abortions except in the case to save the life of the mother.
On February 22, 2024, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, a physician, and four private plaintiffs (collectively, “Planned Parenthood”), represented by private counsel, filed a petition to commence an original action in the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Planned Parenthood sought to challenge Wisconsin Statute 940.04 (“WS 940.04”), enacted in 1849, that made it a felony to “intentionally destroy the life of an unborn child” unless “necessary to save the life of the mother.”
WS 940.04’s constitutionality had never been considered under Article 1, Section 1 of the Wisconsin State Constitution, but in 1970, a federal court found that WS 940.04 violated an individual’s federal right to privacy. Further consideration was never warranted as the US Supreme Court recognized in Roe v. Wade a federal constitutional right to abortion in 1973. Until 2022, when the US Supreme Court overruled Roe in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Wisconsinites accessed safe and effective abortions within the parameters of Wisconsin’s modern laws that allowed women to choose to end a pregnancy for reasons other than just to save their lives. Once Roe was overruled, some Wisconsin district attorneys and legal commentators opined that Dobbs spontaneously revived WS 940.04, which would cause it to become an enforceable ban on abortion in Wisconsin despite its conflict with Wisconsin’s more modern abortion laws.
Therefore, Planned Parenthood argued that if WS 940.04 was interpreted to prevent a person from obtaining an abortion in all circumstances except to save the life of the mother, it would have violated a person’s right to life, liberty, and equal protection guaranteed by Article 1, Section 1 of the Wisconsin Constitution. Furthermore, this interpretation of WS 940.04 would have also violated a physician’s right to equal protection and right to liberty guaranteed by the Wisconsin constitution by impermissibly and arbitrarily preventing them from providing safe, effective, and desired abortions to their patients for reasons other than to save the life of the mother. Planned Parenthood brought this action against three district attorneys as class representatives for all 71 elected district attorneys in Wisconsin.
On July 2, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin granted the leave to commence an original action and assumed jurisdiction over the entire action. This case is ongoing as of February 14, 2025.
Summary Authors
Danica Fong (2/14/2025)
State / Territory: Wisconsin
Case Type(s):
Healthcare Access and Reproductive Issues
Special Collection(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: Feb. 22, 2024
Case Ongoing: Yes
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, a physician, and four private plaintiffs
Plaintiff Type(s):
Non-profit NON-religious organization
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: Yes
Class Action Outcome: Pending
Defendants
Wisconsin State District Attorneys, State
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Ex parte Young (federal or state officials)
Constitutional Clause(s):
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: None Yet / None
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Issues
Discrimination Basis:
Reproductive rights:
Reproductive health care (including birth control, abortion, and others)