Evers Administration filing motion to join lawsuit, again taking fight for reproductive freedom to Wisconsin Supreme Court

MADISON - Gov. Tony Evers today announced the Evers Administration is joining an ongoing lawsuit, Planned Parenthood v. Urmanski, and arguing the Wisconsin Constitution protects access to abortion in Wisconsin. The move is the latest in Gov. Evers’ years-long fight to restore and protect reproductive freedom in Wisconsin in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision two years ago to overturn Roe v. Wade, a decision that effectively forced Wisconsin to operate under a near-complete abortion ban, even in cases of rape and incest, for over a year.

“I promised from the day the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe was leaked that I’d never stop fighting for Wisconsin women and their reproductive freedom, and I won’t stop,” said Gov. Evers. “Wisconsinites have experienced what it means to live in a state that bans nearly all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest—they know because they lived it. Millions of Wisconsinites woke up one day with fewer rights than they had the day before and fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers had before them. And we need to make darn sure that never happens again. 

“With looming Republican threats of enacting a national abortion ban and rolling back access to birth control and emergency contraception, our fight to restore Roe and protect access to safe, legal abortion has never been more important,” Gov. Evers continued. “Every Wisconsinite should have access to the healthcare they need when they need it, and they should be able to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions without interference from politicians who know nothing about their faith, family, or circumstances. Period.”

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to overturn Roe upended the constitutional right to abortion that Wisconsinites and Americans relied upon for nearly 50 years. In the wake of the Dobbs decision, Wisconsin women spent over a year experiencing a functional near-total abortion ban, even in cases of rape or incest. During that time, according to Planned Parenthood of Illinois, Illinois saw a 600 percent increase in Wisconsin patients.

According to a recent study from the Center for American Progress, more than one in three women between the ages of 15 and 44 now live in states that ban abortion at six weeks or less, despite many women not being able to access a clinical appointment until well past that six-week ban. The same study indicates travel time to access abortion care has increased by 300 percent since Roe was overturned two years ago.

The move announced by Gov. Evers today comes as the Wisconsin Supreme Court already granted bypass in a direct challenge to Wisconsin’s criminal abortion ban, Kaul v. Urmanski, filed by Gov. Evers’ administration and Attorney General Josh Kaul within days of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe. 

The Evers Administration, in a motion filed yesterday, is seeking to intervene in a separate case relating to reproductive freedom, Planned Parenthood v. Urmanski, which asks the court to confirm that an 1800s-era statute in Wisconsin—enacted before the Civil War and before women had the right to vote—is unenforceable and that the Wisconsin Constitution establishes a right of bodily autonomy, including in cases of abortion.

While Kaul asks whether Wisconsin ‘does’ have a near-total abortion ban, the Planned Parenthood case asks whether Wisconsin ‘could’ have a near-total abortion ban, and the governor believes the answer to both questions is a resounding, “no.” 

The Planned Parenthood v. Urmanski case, which the Wisconsin Supreme Court recently agreed to hear as an original action, urges the court to “determine, once and for all, that the fundamental rights to life, liberty, and equal protection held by all people in Wisconsin include the right to choose whether or when to have a child, and the right of physicians to exercise their judgment in providing abortion care.” 

Further, as the Wisconsin Supreme Court may be poised to hear Planned Parenthood v. Urmanski alongside Kaul v. Urmanski, the Evers Administration argues it should be able to join the Planned Parenthood v. Urmanski case because the respective questions before the court are interconnected and that the court’s consideration of arguments in Planned Parenthood v. Urmanski could directly impact the resolution of Kaul v. Urmanski. A copy of the filing is available here.

An online version of this release is available here.