Go to Content Go to Navigation Go to Navigation Go to Site Search Homepage

Madison, WI – A federal judge has struck down a harmful Wisconsin law signed in 2013 that would have severely restricted access to safe and legal abortion in the state. In a sweeping opinion that rejects every one of the state’s purported justifications for the law, Judge William Conley held that the law was passed by the Wisconsin legislature to restrict access to abortion.

Judge Conley found that the law would impose an undue burden “on women’s health outcomes due to restricted access to abortions in Wisconsin.” Rejecting the state’s medical evidence as unsound, the court held that “the only reasonable conclusion is that the legislation was motivated by an improper purpose, namely to restrict the availability of abortion services in Wisconsin.” Judge Conley also said this law is “a solution in search of a problem, unless that problem is access to abortion itself.”

A judge struck down a similar law in Alabama as unconstitutional, calling the state’s basis for the requirement “exceedingly weak.” A federal court also struck down a similar law in Mississippi.

Only four health centers provide abortion in Wisconsin. If this law takes effect, the largest of those health centers will be forced to close immediately, and the remaining three will not be able to absorb the unmet need. This could delay procedures by up to 10 weeks, forcing abortions later in pregnancy, if a woman is able to have one at all.

Data, including from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), shows that abortion has over a 99 percent safety record. The plaintiffs in this case already have plans in place for patient safety. Emergency rooms provide care if necessary, and all Wisconsin abortion clinics already have made arrangements with local hospitals in the extremely rare case that a patient needs hospital care.

“Once again, the courts have ruled that politicians have no place in a woman’s personal medical decisions,” said Cecile Richards, president, Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “We all want to protect women’s health and safety — and these laws don’t do that, which is why medical experts oppose them. Let this ruling be a lesson to lawmakers across the country that a woman’s ability to access safe and legal abortion should not depend on where she lives.”

“Politicians, not doctors, crafted this law for the sole purpose of shutting down women’s health care centers and preventing women from getting safe, legal abortions” said Louise Melling, deputy legal director of the ACLU. “The justifications states offer for these laws, which are opposed by major medical groups like the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, are a sham.”  

Similar admitting privileges restrictions threaten access to safe, legal abortion elsewhere. A law in Mississippi — currently blocked by federal court order — would shut down the state’s only remaining abortion provider if allowed to take effect. The law recently struck down in Alabama could close all but two of the providers in the state. In Texas, similar legislation has drastically reduced the number of abortion providers. Meanwhile, similar laws are temporarily blocked by courts in Oklahoma and Louisiana.

Laws like these — which are opposed by the American Medical Association (AMA) and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) — single out doctors who provide abortions and require them to obtain admitting privileges at a local hospital. As the president of ACOG wrote, “These laws are clearly not motivated by women's safety, but by making access to safe, legal abortion difficult — even impossible.”

As Judge Myron Thompson wrote in his strongly worded 172-page opinion in the Alabama case: “If this requirement would not … constitute an impermissible undue burden, then almost no regulation, short of those imposing an outright prohibition on abortion, would.” Thompson went on to detail how these restrictions threaten the health and safety of low-income women, in particular, and the history of harassment and violence perpetrated against physicians who provide abortion.

The plaintiffs in this case are Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and Affiliated Medical Services. They are represented by attorneys from Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin firm Cullen, Weston, Pines & Bach.

# # #

For more than 90 years, the American Civil Liberties Union has been our nation's guardian of liberty, working in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.

 

 

###

Planned Parenthood is the nation’s leading provider and advocate of high-quality, affordable health care for women, men, and young people, as well as the nation’s largest provider of sex education. With more than 700 health centers across the country, Planned Parenthood organizations serve all patients with care and compassion, with respect and without judgment. Through health centers, programs in schools and communities, and online resources, Planned Parenthood is a trusted source of reliable health information that allows people to make informed health decisions. We do all this because we care passionately about helping people lead healthier lives.

Source

Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Contact

Planned Parenthood Federation of America media office: 212-261-4433

Published

March 20, 2015

Updated

March 21, 2015

We and our third partners use cookies and other tools to collect, store, monitor, and analyze information about your interaction with our site to improve performance, analyze your use of our sites and assist in our marketing efforts. You may opt out of the use of these cookies and other tools at any time by visiting Cookie Settings. By clicking “Allow All Cookies” you consent to our collection and use of such data, and our Terms of Use. For more information, see our Privacy Notice.

Cookie Settings

We, and our third-party partners, use cookies, pixels, and other tracking technologies to collect, store, monitor, and process certain information about you when you access and use our services, read our emails, or otherwise engage with us. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences, or your device. We use that information to make the site work, analyze performance and traffic on our website, to provide a more personalized web experience, and assist in our marketing efforts. We also share information with our social media, advertising, and analytics partners. You can change your default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of required cookies when utilizing our site; this includes necessary cookies that help our site to function (such as remembering your cookie preference settings). For more information, please see our Privacy Notice.

Marketing

On

We use online advertising to promote our mission and help constituents find our services. Marketing pixels help us measure the success of our campaigns.

User Feedback and Session Replay

On

We use qualitative data from LogRocket, UserZoom, Hotjar and AB Tasty to learn about your user experience and improve our products and services. LogRocket allows us to view session replays.