Wisconsin judge rules 1849 law doesn’t outlaw abortion
Wisconsin judge rules 1849 law doesn’t outlaw abortion
A Wisconsin circuit court judge has ruled that an 1849 law that classifies the destruction of a fetus by someone other than the mother as a felony does not outlaw abortions, returning the stateR…
A Wisconsin circuit court judge has ruled that an 1849 law that classifies the destruction of a fetus by someone other than the mother as a felony does not outlaw abortions, returning the state’s abortion access to its pre-Dobbs status.
Dane County Circuit Court Judge Diane Schlipper on Tuesday reaffirmed a ruling she issued earlier this year, finding that an 1800s-era law “does not apply to consensual abortions, but to feticide.”
After the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling in 2022, the question was raised over whether a Wisconsin state law passed in 1849 could go into effect. Roe had effectively invalidated the law when it was in effect.
Why are we even considering a ~180 yr old law as something relevant today?
I'm glad I think that this seems to be good news but it's absolutely insane to me that it's based on a decision older than some states.
46For better or worse, laws apply from when they are enacted to when they are repealed or superseded. (Repealed includes laws with clauses that state it only applies for X years or that it needs to be renewed every Y years and the law doesn't get renewed.)
That being said, there are all too often laws that are technically applicable but whose usefulness has long since passed. In these cases, the law still applies but the state legislature needs to pass a bill to repeal it (or supersede it).
43Why are we even considering a ~180 yr old law as something relevant today?
How old do you think murder laws are?
18Laws older than that are constantly referenced, e.g. the Constitution.
12Seems simpler for the good people of Wisconsin to just vote on a new law that says whatever they think is proper. Obstetric science has advanced somewhat since the time when Ignaz Semmelweis first proposed doctors washing their hands before delivering babies (especially if they'd just come form the cadaver lab), so some of the reasoning behind the 1849 law might be out of date.
Unfortunately, that would require certain politicians to go on record about something that might be used against them if they later ran a national campaign, so better to let the court take the matter out of their hands and (mis-?)interpret an old law in a politically advantageous way.
1Sadly as a past resident of Wisconsin referendum votes are nonbinding and the Republican held house and Senate ignore them and the people of Wisconsin.
If it wasn't the case they would have had legal cannabis long ago.
The gerrymandered state is so frustrating and is barely resisting a further descent into regressive policy by a decent governor.
3
Most of these people think that a book from 2000 years ago has valid ideas for today’s world. So, 180 isn’t much of a stretch at all.
33In fairness the 2nd half of that book is pretty damn good, it's just a shame that they don't actually practice it.
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