Wisconsin DOJ replaces Republicans with local district attorneys in abortion lawsuit
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Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul removed top Republican lawmakers from his lawsuit to block enforcement of Wisconsin's 1849 abortion law and instead named the district attorneys of Dane, Milwaukee and Sheboygan as defendants.
The replacement of Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, came to avoid delays after Republicans sought to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming they aren't the correct defendants.
Kaul sent a letter to the Republican legislators’ attorney on Sept. 12 saying if they didn't withdraw their dismissal request by Thursday, the DOJ would remove their names and replace them with the names of the district attorneys.
"We would rather have the Legislature as defendants, they are the ones that are fighting to keep this draconian 19th century ban in place, but we want this suit to move forward so we can get clarity for Wisconsinites," Kaul said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Friday. "And we've also been clear if the Legislature wants out of the case, that's their decision, but we're going to hold that moving forward."
Kupenga, LeMahieu and Vos could not immediately be reached for comment.
District attorneys John Chisholm, Milwaukee; Ismael Ozanne, Dane; and Joel Urmanski, Sheboygan, could not immediately be reached Friday afternoon.
MIlwaukee, Dane and Sheboygan were the only counties in the state where abortions were taking place before Roe was overturned.
The district attorneys have 45 days to respond to the amended summons filed by the Department of Justice Friday.
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Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Kaul filed the lawsuit arguing that a 1985 law allowing abortions up to the point of a fetus' viability supersedes Wisconsin's 1849 ban on nearly all abortions.
The Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services, the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board and the chair of the board, OB-GYN Sheldon Wasserman, are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
The Kaul lawsuit was filed in Dane County Circuit Court just days after the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs Wade.
Abortion ban is a key election issue
Wisconsin’s criminal abortion ban — which originated in 1849, before the Civil War and at a time when Wisconsin women did not have the right to vote — would ban nearly all abortions in the state, including in cases of rape and incest.
GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels gave a total of $175,000 from his personal family foundation in 2020 to Wisconsin Right to Life and Pro Life Wisconsin Education Task Force, and a New York based anti-abortion group.
Corrinne Hess can be reached at chess@gannett.com. Follow her @corrihess
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Republican lawmakers replaced in abortion lawsuit
