MADISON, Wis. — Planned Parenthood and Democratic lawmakers has called on the Republican— led Wisconsin Legislature to strike an abortion restriction from the state’s legal code even though the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down last week, rendering it unenforceable.
The Supreme Court overturned a similar Texas statute requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals on June 27, then rejected Wisconsin’s appeal seeking to have its own statute reinstated. The court found that such regulations are medically unnecessary and that they would unconstitutionally limit a woman’s right to abortion.
Although Wisconsin’s law has been nullified, Planned Parenthood and the Democrats want it removed from the books entirely.
“Allowing this law to remain on the books represents a state— sponsored violation of the dignity and civil liberties of every woman in the state of Wisconsin,” said Mel Barnes, a legal and policy associate for the group’s advocacy arm in the state, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin.
Thirty— five Democratic legislators signed a letter delivered to Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on July 7 calling for the repeal of the admitting privileges provision.
“Our laws in Wisconsin should reflect the law of the land,” Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, a La Crosse Democrat, said in a statement.
Fitzgerald said in a statement that Wisconsin statutes are revised to reflect court rulings on an ongoing basis and already include a permanent injunction against this section of the law, so a repeal of Act 37 is unnecessary.
“This letter is nothing but a publicity stunt by Democrat legislators,” he said.
