Petition filed for right to abortion
Planned Parenthood: State Constitution guards bodily autonomy
MADISON – As the future of abortion access continues to be debated, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced on Thursday that it will file a petition with the state Supreme Court asking it to recognize a constitutional right to bodily autonomy, including abortion.
The organization argues the rights declared by the state Constitution — “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” — inherently include “the right to determine what one does with one’s own body, including whether and when to have a child.”
“All people in Wisconsin share that right equally,” the petition argues.
Planned Parenthood is also asking the court to recognize a right for physicians to provide abortions, arguing “life and liberty also require the right to pursue one’s lawful profession.”
“Despite all the progress that’s been made to resume abortion care since the overturning of (Roe v. Wade), the protections afforded under Wisconsin’s Constitution remain unknown,” Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin president and CEO Tanya Atkinson told reporters. “Wisconsinites deserve the ability to make decisions that shape their future to make decisions about if or when they become a parent. And they deserve to know this right is protected by our state Constitution.”
The organization is asking the state’s high court to take the case directly, bypassing lower courts, because “these are exigent and urgent circumstances that impact the health and well-being of the people we know and care about across the state,” said Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin chief strategy officer Michelle Velasquez.
Planned Parenthood’s filing comes days after Sheboygan County District Attorney Joel Urmanski filed a petition to bypass an appeals court and ask the state Supreme Court to decide whether a December ruling from a Dane County judge declaring an 1849 law outlawing abortion does not apply to consensual procedures.
If the court agrees to take that case, it’s likely it will side with the lower court’s ruling. The court now has a 4-3 liberal majority after Justice Janet Protasiewicz ran for a seat on the court with a campaign focused on restoring abortion access in Wisconsin.
Attorney General Josh Kaul and Gov. Tony Evers, both Democrats, filed that lawsuit shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2022 overturned its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion nationwide. The court’s 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Care effectively put back into place the state’s original
abortion law.
Attorneys for Planned Parenthood argue that either before the court considers the case challenging the 1849 law, or at the same time, it should determine whether an abortion ban violates the rights laid out in the state Constitution “of persons who may become pregnant and of the physicians who provide care to them.”
“Even if Kaul v. Urmanski could be decided on statutory interpretation, the constitutional issue is likely to recur,” the petition argues.
“The reason it’s so important to get an answer on the constitutionality is because Wisconsinites need guardrails. They need to understand what rights are protected in their state Constitution, and legislators need guardrails as they’re thinking about … passing new laws,” Velasquez said.
Wisconsin Right to Life legislative director Gracie Skogman called the move “a radical action from Planned Parenthood, that demonstrates their disregard for human life.”
“The Wisconsin state Constitution protects the right to life for all, including preborn children,” Skogman said.