Planned Parenthood asks Wisconsin Supreme Court to find 1849 abortion law unconstitutional

By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin is asking the state Supreme Court to overturn a 174-year-old state law that conservatives have interpreted as an abortion ban. The organization filed a petition Thursday asking the high court to find the law unconstitutional without letting any lower courts rule first. Liberals hold a 4-3 majority on the Supreme Court, and one justice has repeatedly declared her support for abortion rights. Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul won a ruling from a Dane County judge last year that the ban only prohibits feticide. Planned Parenthood is seeking a much broader ruling confirming a right to abortion under the state constitution.