Wisconsin Supreme Court calls for investigation into leaked abortion bills

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court called for an investigation Wednesday after a draft ruling was leaked showing the court would take up a case brought by Planned Parenthood, which will join the organization in declaring that access to an abortion is a right protected by the state constitution.

Chief Judge Annette Ziegler called for the investigation after Wisconsin Watch reported on the draft order she received. The order, according to Wisconsin Watch, said the court would hear the complaint but was not a decision on the case itself.

“Today, the entire court was shocked to learn that a confidential draft document was allegedly leaked to the press,” Zielger said in a statement. “I have contacted law enforcement and requested a full investigation.”

She said all seven judges were “united behind this investigation to identify the source of the apparent leak. The seven of us condemn this violation.”

Ziegler is part of a conservative minority of three justices on the court. The draft order did not indicate which justices supported taking the abortion case, nor did it list any dissenting votes, according to Wisconsin Watch.

Planned Parenthood filed the lawsuit in February, asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to overturn a 175-year-old state law that conservatives have interpreted as a ban on abortion.

This is already the second abortion-related lawsuit in court.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has not yet ruled on whether to hear an appeal of a lower court ruling won by Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, who challenged the 1849 law on the grounds that it was too old to be enforced and that it was trumped by a 1985 law that allowed abortions up to the point that a fetus can survive outside the womb.

Dane County District Judge Diane Schlipper ruled last year that the law only prohibits attacks on a woman with the intent to kill her unborn child. The decision encouraged Planned Parenthood to resume offering abortions in Wisconsin after authorities halted the procedures in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Sheboygan County Republican District Attorney Joel Urmanski has filed an appeal, asking the state Supreme Court to take the case directly without waiting for a ruling from a lower appellate court.

According to Wisconsin Watch, the draft order in the Planned Parenthood case did not address the other lawsuit.

The abortion cases are among the most significant before the court, which took control of the Liberals in 2023.

In December, the court threw out the Republican-drawn district maps, handing Democrats a major victory that led to the House adopting the new districts drawn by Democratic Governor Tony Evers.

The court has also heard a lawsuit seeking to reinstate the use of mail-in ballots, a case that is being closely watched in the battleground state of Wisconsin. A ruling in that case is expected soon, as the court’s term ends next week.