Prosecutors move to dismiss Wisconsin abortion ban challenge

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A group of prosecutors is asking a judge to toss out Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul’s lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s 173-year-old ban on abortions, arguing that it lacks legal merit and that there is no weight to assertions that it is unenforceable because of its age.

Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and Sheboygan County District Attorney Joel Urmanski filed separate motions late Wednesday to dismiss the case. All three argued that the lawsuit seeks to improperly restrict prosecutorial discretion and that Kaul lacks standing to sue because he hasn't been personally harmed by the ban.

Urmanski, the only Republican among the three, went further, rejecting Kaul's argument that the ban is so old that it can no longer be considered to have passed with the consent of the people.

“Wisconsin courts have never recognized that a statute can lose effect through disuse and, even if they had, this case would not warrant application of that principle,” Urmanski wrote. “If the Plaintiffs believe the statute lacks the consent of the governed, their appeal should be to the Legislature and the Governor to seek changes in the law, not this Court.”

Kaul spokesperson Gillian Drummond didn't immediately respond to a message Thursday seeking comment. Dane County Circuit Judge Diane Schlipper has given all the parties in the case until Feb. 6 to file briefs expanding on their stances.

The case appears destined to end up before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Conservative justices hold a one-vote majority on the court, but Democrats are banking on a progressive candidate winning the seat of retiring Justice Patience Roggensack in April’s election, giving liberals the edge. The longer the case drags on in...