MADISON, Wis. — Today, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin filed a lawsuit challenging Wisconsin laws containing basic safeguards that protect women—including requirements that physicians perform abortions and that women receive a 24-hour waiting period to consider their decision to have their child’s life terminated.
The lawsuit exposes a remarkable contradiction. Planned Parenthood routinely argues that abortion should be a private decision between a woman and her doctor. Yet now it is asking the courts to unilaterally remove the doctor from the process by challenging Wisconsin’s physician requirement.
Katie Crain, Legislative and Policy Director of Wisconsin Family Action, stated, “Abortion activists want Wisconsinites to believe abortion is a decision between a woman and her doctor—but apparently this is another lie from the abortion industry that is seeking to remove physicians from the abortion process.”
A recent report found 11 percent of women who received chemical abortions had a serious adverse event. While in the State Assembly, David Crowley authored legislation alongside Supreme Court Justice Chris Taylor to have taxpayer-subsidized abortions through all nine months of pregnancy. Earlier this week, Attorney General Josh Kaul called for abortion through birth without any safeguards for women and children. Crain contends, “Abortion extremists like Crowley and Kaul will put women and children in harm’s way.”
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Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit alleges that the Wisconsin constitutional provision, which provides the inherent right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” is being used as their basis to circumvent the legislative and executive branches in their efforts to have non-doctors perform induced abortions.
Crain challenges, “The right to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ doesn’t magically create some loophole for non-physicians to put women and children at risk by granting them a right to perform dangerous abortions.”
Wisconsin Family Action will vigorously defend the laws challenged by Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and will do everything necessary to ensure that women and children are protected throughout Wisconsin.
