Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin sues over physician-only abortion bans and waiting period

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin sued the Medical Examining Board and statewide district attorneys, asserting that two abortion statutes infringe on constitutional liberty and equal-protection rights. The first law makes it a Class I felony for anyone other than a physician to perform an abortion and forces the same physician to conduct both exam and procedure, excluding advanced practice nurses and physician assistants.

The second law imposes a 24-hour waiting period with mandatory informed-consent information before a procedure. The complaint, filed Thursday, cites the Guttmacher Institute’s classification of Wisconsin as a restrictive state and references the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s 2025 decision that implicitly repealed an 1849 ban. Plaintiffs include several qualified non-physician clinicians who are barred from providing care. The suit asks the court to permanently block enforcement of the challenged statutes.