Attorney General Josh Kaul has petitioned the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take jurisdiction of the case in which the Dane County Circuit Court ruled that Wis. Stat. § 940.04 does not criminalize abortion. The petition, filed on Feb 27, 2024, seeks to bypass the Court of Appeals in order to provide Wisconsinites with a final ruling on the enforceability of the statute.
Kaul stated, “This case is about protecting Wisconsinites’ freedom. The sooner we can obtain certainty about the state of Wisconsin law, the better.” He further added, “In addition to continuing to argue that Wisconsin law does not impose a near-total ban on abortions, we are asking the court to address the constitutional dimensions of the rights at stake. The Wisconsin Constitution includes clear commitments to securing liberty and equal protection under the law. A ruling that constitutional protection for reproductive freedom follows from those commitments would provide greater clarity to Wisconsinites about the rights they can count on in an area of the law that has been rife with uncertainty since Roe was overruled.”
All parties involved in the appeal have now filed petitions in support of bypassing the Court of Appeals and having the Wisconsin Supreme Court make a final decision on the matter.