Appeals Court Hands Loss-Win to Planned Parenthood in Abortion-related Case

Joe Forward of the State Bar of Wisconsin reported at WisBar News on Wednesday's 2-1 decision in Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin Inc. v. Schimel.

"The law, Wis. Stat. section 253.105(2), states that a person may not 'give' abortion-inducing drugs to a woman unless the physician who prescribed or provided the drug is physically present in the room when the drug is 'given' to the woman.
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"The majority ruled that the issues are nonjusticiable because, under PPW’s stated protocol for giving abortion-inducing drugs, there is no way to be in violation of the statute, and PPW did not change its practices in light of the voluntary consent law."

To oversimplify, to be justiciable, the case must involve a legal problem for a party to the case.

"The first drug is given to the patient in the presence of the physician and the patient takes the drug right then. There is no problem there, the majority noted.

"On the second drug, which is provided to a patient to be taken later, there is no problem either, because in that case the woman goes home and 'gives' the drug to herself."