This post originally appeared at https://www.prolifewi.org/blog/shifting-landscapes

Pro-Life Wisconsin Staff Blog Post

Last week saw the landscape of our laws in Wisconsin shift and settle back to the Roe days with the Kaul v. Urmanski decision and dismissal of Planned Parenthood v. Urmanski which saw the fall of our 1849 abortion ban. Let’s take a look at each of these to see what we are now up against with the future of the Pro-Life Movement in Wisconsin. 

The breakdown: 

Kaul v. Urmanski was to determine if our 1849 abortion ban, Wisconsin  Statute 940, would stand or be struck down. The Court did ultimately decide that this law has no standing in Wisconsin using flawed, agenda-driven logic. However, they did so in a way that left the following restrictions on abortion intact: 

• 20-week ban on abortion and ban on abortion after viability (with exceptions) 

• 24-hour waiting period for abortion 

• Ultrasound requirement for abortion 

• Informed consent laws (materials on pregnancy must be provided) 

• Telehealth restriction for medical abortion (pills must be administered in-person by a physician) 

Planned Parenthood v. Urmanski was to determine if there was a “right” to abortion in the Wisconsin Constitution. If the Court had taken this case and decided to rule that there is indeed a right to abortion in our state constitution, all laws and restrictions on abortion would have been eliminated and abortion up until birth would have been the law of the land. However, the Court dismissed this case in tandem with its ruling on the prior case striking down our 1849 abortion ban. 

The takeaway: 

We have much left to do to eliminate abortion without exception in Wisconsin. We are grateful that women in unplanned pregnancy situations and their vulnerable preborn babies have some pro-life protections. We also recognize that these fall short of stopping the onslaught of abortion. Consider our 20-week ban. Only twelve of the 3,333 abortions performed in Wisconsin in 2022 (the last year for which we have reporting from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services) were on babies that were 20 weeks old or older. To be sure, these twelve babies were aborted because of the medical emergency/life-of-the-mother exception in the so-called 20-week “ban,” permitting Wisconsin hospitals to perform late-term “therapeutic” abortions. The remaining 3,321 abortions performed in 2022 were on babies that were younger than 20 weeks. (1) It’s clear that such a ban is not stopping many abortions, which are occurring mainly early in pregnancy and increasingly using the abortion pill with 63% of abortions nationwide being performed chemically as of 2023. (2) 

In order to save preborn lives, we will need to amp up our efforts. Dobbs may have given a reprieve, but it did not solve the issue of abortion. If we are to eradicate this great evil from communities, we must pass laws that actually protect babies from abortion without exception and ultimately pass a personhood amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution so that preborn lives are shielded from ever-changing laws and political tides. 

Finally, we will need to change hearts. This call is for each of us. Whether you are politically minded or not, you have a responsibility as a pro-lifer to share the truth about human life with those around you. Whether this is with your children around the dinner table, with a friend or coworker, or on the sidewalks outside of an abortion center, the truth that life begins at conception and the preborn are persons must be shared, charitably, yet firmly. 

We invite you to join our efforts. Consider donating to Pro-Life Wisconsin, Inc. to boost our legislative efforts, attend a sidewalk counseling class to learn how to talk to women in unplanned pregnancy situations outside of abortion centers and referral centers, invite one of our speakers to your community of church, attend a pro-life event, request pro-life literature, pray for a baby in danger of abortion, It’s time to act. How are you being led to join the mission personally? 

Learn more at ProLifeWI.org/volunteer or fill out the form at the end of this post to help with our sidewalk counseling efforts. 

SOURCES

1 Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Division of Public Health, Office of Health Informatics. (2024). Reported induced abortions in Wisconsin, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2025, from https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publications/p45360-22.pdf 

2 Medication Abortion Accounted for 63% of All US Abortions in 2023—An Increase from 53% in 2020. (2024, March). Guttmacher Institute. Retrieved July 7, 2025, from https://www.guttmacher.org/2024/03/medication-abortion-accounted-63-all-us-abortions-2023-increase-53-20 

We need your help to pray outside of Wisconsin abortion centers and referral centers and to counsel women seeking abortion. Let us know you can help and we’ll provide the support, materials, and training!

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