Petition Argues that, if Applied to Abortion, Wis. Stat. § 940.04 Would Violate the Wisconsin Constitution

MADISON, Wis. – Attorney General Josh Kaul today filed a supplemental petition asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take jurisdiction of Kaul, et al. v. Urmanski, et al., the case in which the Dane County Circuit Court ruled that Wis. Stat. § 940.04 does not criminalize abortion. The petition asks the Wisconsin Supreme Court to bypass the Court of Appeals, so that Wisconsinites can have a final, definitive ruling on the enforceability of Wis. Stat. § 940.04.

“This case is about protecting Wisconsinites’ freedom. The sooner we can obtain certainty about the state of Wisconsin law, the better,” said Attorney General Kaul.  

“In addition to continuing to argue that Wisconsin law does not impose a near-total ban on abortions, we are asking the court to address the constitutional dimensions of the rights at stake,” Kaul added. “The Wisconsin Constitution includes clear commitments to securing liberty and equal protection under the law. A ruling that constitutional protection for reproductive freedom follows from those commitments would provide greater clarity to Wisconsinites about the rights they can count on in an area of the law that has been rife with uncertainty since Roe was overruled.​”

All parties to the appeal have now filed petitions in support of bypass to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.