MILWAUKEE – Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul are announcing a lawsuit over the state’s 1849 abortion ban.
The announcement came during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon in Milwaukee.
“Today I’m announcing that we’re taking this fight back to the courts,” Evers said on Tuesday.
Attorney General Josh Kaul says the argument for declaring the law invalid is two-fold.
“Number one, there are a series of laws that were passed subsequent to Roe that provide regulation for lawful abortions in Wisconsin. Those statutes are directly inconsistent with Wisconsin’s 19th century abortion ban,” Attorney General Kaul said.
“It can’t be both legal and illegal to provide an abortion to protect the health of the mother.”
“We’ve also argued that Wisconsin’s abortion ban has fallen into disuse and can no longer be enforced under Wisconsin law,” Kaul said.
“There’s a legal doctrine known as desuetude, that we argue applies here.”
You can watch the announcement below courtesy of our partners at TMJ4 News.
BREAKING: @WisDOJ AG Kaul and I are filing a direct challenge to Wisconsin’s 1849 criminal abortion law banning nearly all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest.
— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) June 28, 2022
We won’t go back, we won’t back down, and we are going to fight like hell. pic.twitter.com/DraylV4i1D