MADISON, Wis. — Doctors across Wisconsin said they would immediately stop providing abortions, even as questions remained about the enforceability of a 173-year-old state ban, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling striking down its Roe v. Wade decision on Friday.
Wisconsin has an 1849 law that bans abortion, except to save the life of the mother, but whether that law is enforceable is expected to be challenged in court. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, said he would have news next week about how his office would respond to Friday’s ruling.
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The nonpartisan Wisconsin Legislative Council, which is comprised of attorneys who advise the Legislature, indicated in a memo that the enforceability of the state ban will likely have to be decided by a judge.
Under the Wisconsin law, doctors could be charged with felonies for performing abortions and face up to six years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
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Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin said it was halting all abortions at its clinics in Milwaukee, Madison and Sheboygan. The group’s president, Tanya Atkinson, said in a statement that Planned Parenthood will now focus on getting patients in Wisconsin access to “safe abortion care where it remains legal, offering travel assistance, and providing appropriate follow-up care when they return home.”
A person who answered the phone at Affiliated Medical Services, which also provides abortions in Milwaukee, said it was busy contacting patients about the Supreme Court’s ruling and declined to comment further. Its website suggested that when Roe v. Wade is struck down, the group would stop providing abortions and instead “provide resources for out-of-state abortion clinics, travel support and general questions.”
UW Health said in a statement that, “While reverting to a 173-year-old state law on abortion will create some legal uncertainties, we recognize that this court decision has effectively banned abortions in Wisconsin except to save the life of the mother, and UW Health will continue to comply with the laws related to reproductive healthcare.”
A large abortion rights rally was scheduled for Friday afternoon at the Capitol.
A Republican candidate for governor, Tim Michels, earlier this week called on Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to put the Wisconsin National Guard on alert in the event of violent protests. The office of an anti-abortion group in Madison was vandalized last month and no one has been arrested.
On Wednesday, the Republican-controlled Legislature refused to overturn the state’s ban, as Evers had called on them to do. Evers is making abortion rights a pillar of his reelection campaign, as are Democrats looking to take on Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson.
Associated Press writer Todd Richmond contributed to this story.
