Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announces it’s temporarily suspending abortion services after SCOTUS ruling

Access to abortion across the country changed within a matter of hours after the Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, eliminating the constitutional right to the medical procedure.

The president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced that abortion services offered by the organization had been temporarily suspended following the Supreme Court’s decision and amid uncertainty over a 173-year-old abortion law on the books. 

That 1849 law says it is a felony for virtually any abortion to be performed, except in instances where it is needed to save the mother’s life, but the state was not able to enforce it following the high court’s 1973 landmark decision. 

“Today, our daughters have less rights than their mothers. Less rights than their grandmothers. This is absolutely unconscionable. People should be able to make their own health care decisions. This should not be political,” Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin President and CEO Tanya Atkinson said in a video statement shared by the organization. 

“Because that law was not repealed, because that law remains in effect, today Planned Parenthood Wisconsin has been forced to temporarily suspend abortion services,” she added.

The law is expected to receive legal challenges, and it is not quite clear given the Supreme Court’s decision if any would withstand.

Top Wisconsin officials slammed the Supreme Court’s ruling, with state Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) saying his office was reviewing the decision.

“We must now turn to Congress, state courts, and state legislatures. Our office is reviewing today’s decision and will be providing further information about how we intend to move forward next week. We are at a crossroads for the future of reproductive freedom, and we need elected officials to step up and protect access to safe and legal abortion,” Kaul, who is up for reelection this November, said in a statement.

Kaul has previously said that if the high court overturned the 50-year precedent, he would not enforce abortion bans in his state.

“Even if courts were to interpret that law as being enforceable, as attorney general I would not use the resources of the Wisconsin Department of Justice either to investigate alleged violations of that abortion ban or to prosecute alleged violations of it,” Kaul told The Associated Press in December.