Gov. Evers Calls Legislative Session To Repeal 1849 Anti-Abortion Law

MILWAUKEE, WI —Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on Wednesday signed Executive Order #168, calling the Wisconsin State Legislature into a special session on June 22 in order to repeal the state's criminal abortion ban that originated in 1849.

The governor's office said a repeal is necessary after a leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization revealed the court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Wisconsin is one of 10 states with a pre-existing law to ban abortion. Those laws were nullified by Roe v. Wade nearly 50 years ago. However, an overturning of Roe v. Wade would automatically reinstate those laws.

According to Time magazine, in the 173-year-old Wisconsin law performing or assisting in any abortion is a Class H felony, punishable by up to six years in prison. The termination of an "unborn quick child," ie a fetus that can move in the womb, is classified as a Class E felony, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The law only allows for abortions when the health of the mother is at risk. It does not include any exemptions for victims of rape or incest, according to Time.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul announced last month that he wouldn't prosecute people who violate the ban. Though he could not stop local officials from enforcing it, according to Time.

Even with Kaul's assurances, Evers said a return to the old law would turn back the clock on reproductive healthcare access in Wisconsin by five decades.

"This isn't about politics — it's about empathy, compassion, and doing the right thing," Evers said. "There's no time to sit around and wait for this decision to arrive on our doorstep. Inaction has real consequences for all of us and the people who matter most to us."

"I've said all along I'll never stop fighting to defend reproductive rights and safe, legal access to abortion as long as I'm governor, and today, I'm asking Wisconsinites to join us by making your voices heard."

However, as Time reports, Evers' effort to repeal the old law is not expected to go anywhere in a Republican-controlled legislature.

Evers can continue to use his veto power to prevent GOP lawmakers from further restricting abortions in the state.

According to Evers' office, over the last three years, the governor has vetoed several bills passed by the Legislature, including several that would have "restricted access to abortion, inserted politics into the personal and private conversations between patients and their healthcare providers and made it harder for doctors to provide medically accurate information and treatment."

The abortion landscape in Wisconsin could change further in the coming months as both Evers and Kaul, a Democrat, are running for reelection in the fall.

"(The Supreme Court's impending decision) has changed Wisconsin politics in the snap of a finger," Mordechai Lee, a former state assemblyman and state senator, told Time. "The fall election is going to be a referendum on abortion."

Former lieutenant governor Rebecca Kleefisch, a Republican hoping to challenge Evers for the governorship, told Fox 6 Milwaukee last month that she would oppose abortions even in cases of rape and incest.

Kleefisch is running in the Aug. 9 Republican Primary against Donald Trump-endorsed Tim Michels, a construction business owner, Kevin Nicholson, a former Marine who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2018,and State Rep. Tim Ramthun.