Wisconsin Republicans try to make 1849 abortion ban more severe

According to reporting by the Wisconsin State Journal, the Republican-controlled state legislature in Wisconsin proposed a package of legislation on Tuesday that would increase penalties for doctors who perform an abortion, harshening its 174-year-old abortion ban.

The State Journal’s Alexander Shur and Mitchell Schmidt reported that the proposal includes an amendment to the near-total abortion ban from 1849 that went back into effect when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer. The new amendment also clarifies which procedures doctors are allowed to perform in order to save the life of the mother, one of the only exceptions under the law.

Gov. Tony Evers (D) will likely veto the legislation if it ever reaches his desk; he has made it known that he is committed to returning abortion rights to Wisconsin. A group of physicians alongside Attorney General Josh Kaul are suing to have the ban overturned. The Wisconsin Supreme Court, which recently flipped to a Democratic majority, will likely decide that case. Evers supports the lawsuit, and anything but a veto on the Republican amendment would go against getting rid of the 1849 ban.

Evers recently won reelection in November, while Republicans hold control of the Wisconsin House 63-35 and the Senate 21-11.