Wisconsin Republicans delay response to Evers administration lawsuit challenging state's 1849 abortion law
Corrinne HessWisconsin Republicans are asking for more time to respond to a lawsuit filed in June challenging the state's criminal abortion ban.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul filed the lawsuit arguing that a 1985 law allowing abortions up to the point of a fetus' viability supersedes Wisconsin's 1849 ban on nearly all abortions.
Wisconsin Republicans had until Aug. 15 to respond.
Documents obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel show Legislative Republicans asked for an extension until Sept. 14. The extension was granted for one week, to Aug. 22, according to a source with knowledge of the situation who is not authorized to speak publicly because of ongoing litigation.
The Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services, the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board and the chair of the board, OB-GYN Sheldon Wasserman, are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
They are suing state Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester.
Kapenga, LeMahieu and Vos did not respond to calls for comment.
"Abortion isn’t health care and for the governor and attorney general to try and use the courts to enact law is just as wrong as the original Roe v. Wade decision over 50 years ago," Vos said in a statement in June when Kaul filed the lawsuit.
The Kaul lawsuit was filed in Dane County Circuit Court just days after the U.S. Supreme Court released a decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Abortion ban is a key issue in Wisconsin's elections
Wisconsin’s criminal abortion ban — which originated in 1849, before the Civil War and at a time when Wisconsin women did not have the right to vote — would ban nearly all abortions in the state, including in cases of rape and incest.
Abortion will be a key issue in the general election.
GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels gave a total of $175,000 from his personal family foundation in 2020 to Wisconsin Right to Life and Pro Life Wisconsin Education Task Force, and a New York based anti-abortion group.
Pro Life Wisconsin's agenda calls for completely outlawing abortion and would ban most common forms of contraception and birth control and prohibit in vitro fertilization. That goes beyond the 1849 abortion ban.
Republican attorney general candidate Eric Toney has said he would enforce the 1849 law after Kaul said he would not.
Corrinne Hess can be reached at chess@gannett.com. Follow her @corrihess