Wisconsin judge rules that 19th century state law doesn't ban abortion

Dane County Circuit Court Judge Diane Schlipper on Tuesday determined that an 1849 Wisconsin law does not ban abortion, reaffirming her own ruling from earlier this year.

Schlipper found that the law, which states that "any person, other than the mother, who intentionally destroys the life of an unborn child is guilty of a Class H felony," would not apply to "consensual abortions, but to feticide," according to The Hill.

The 1849 law became the subject of legal dispute after the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the constitutional right to abortion set in the 1973 Roe v. Wade precedent, raising questions as to the enforcement of the state law. The case will likely reach the state Supreme Court, which has a liberal majority.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.