Wisconsin supreme court strikes down 1849 abortion ban

Liberal justices rule the state’s 19th-century ban was replaced by later law allowing abortion until viability

The Wisconsin supreme court’s liberal majority struck down the state’s 176-year-old abortion ban on Wednesday, ruling 4-3 that it was superseded by a newer state law that criminalizes abortions only after a fetus can survive outside the womb.

State lawmakers adopted the ban in 1849, making it a felony when anyone other than the mother “intentionally destroys the life of an unborn child”.

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