Evers, Kaul challenge 1849 abortion law 

Gov. Tony Evers authorized Attorney General Josh Kaul to file suit Tuesday in Dane County court to challenge the state’s 173-year-old abortion ban.

“We’re taking this fight back to the courts,” Evers said at a press conference in Milwaukee.

An 1849 law makes it a felony to perform an abortion in Wisconsin, unless it’s to save the life of the mother.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week overturned Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to abortion, but Kaul said last Friday it’s unclear whether the ban is enforceable.

There are a series of laws passed after Roe v. Wade to regulate abortion in Wisconsin that are inconsistent with the 1849 law, he said Tuesday.

“It cannot be both legal and illegal to provide an abortion to protect the health of the mother,” Kaul told reporters.

And he said that the law has fallen into disuse, given it hasn’t been enforceable for around 50 years.