The Wisconsin supreme court’s chief justice called for a police investigation after a draft order related to an abortion case brought forward by Planned Parenthood was “ostensibly leaked” to the press on Wednesday.
The case relates to a petition by Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin that asks the court to declare that abortion access is a right protected by the state constitution. Obtained by Wisconsin Watch, a nonpartisan investigative news outlet, the draft order said the court’s justices would hear the case. It was not a ruling on the case itself, unlike the U.S. Supreme Court’s accidental upload of a draft opinion on a pair of Idaho abortion cases.
“Today the entire court was shocked to learn that a confidential draft document was ostensibly leaked to the press,” conservative chief justice Annette Ziegler said in a public statement. “I have contacted law enforcement to request that a full investigation be conducted. We are all united behind this investigation to identify the source of the apparent leak. The seven of us condemn this breach.”
Ziegler issued a statement directly to Wisconsin Watch about the draft order: “This is not a public order. I am not in a position to release any further information.”
It remained unclear which justices voted for or against taking up the case, as the draft order did not include any concurring or dissenting opinions. The court flipped to a new 4–3 liberal majority last year after Justice Janet Protasiewicz handily won a seat by running on abortion access in the state.
The draft order, as reported by Wisconsin Watch, also indicated that the court plans to deny an attempt from a coalition of Wisconsin pro-life groups to intervene in the case. However, the coalition will be allowed to file a brief opposing the lawsuit.
With the February suit, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and other plaintiffs argued that the Wisconsin constitution should enshrine abortion access and protect doctors who perform abortions from being criminalized. If the Wisconsin supreme court formally accepts the case, oral arguments probably won’t be heard until the court’s next term starts this fall. Its current term is expected to conclude next week.
The case stems from a separate lawsuit filed by Wisconsin’s attorney general, Josh Kaul, a Democrat who challenged an 1849 criminal abortion statute that has been widely interpreted as an abortion ban. However, a Dane County judge ruled late last year that the state law does not prohibit abortions — only that it prohibits a person from attacking a woman in order to murder her unborn child.
Displeased with the judge’s ruling, a Republican district attorney in a separate county subsequently appealed directly to the state supreme court without waiting for a lower appellate court’s ruling.
Kaul’s litigation was filed in June 2022, just after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with its landmark Dobbs decision. The state supreme court’s leaked draft order did not address Kaul’s lawsuit.
Also on Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court prematurely posted a draft opinion regarding Idaho’s ability to prohibit hospitals from performing emergency abortions. The document was subsequently taken down after news outlets reported on some of its contents. It indicated that the Court’s majority would dismiss appeals made by Idaho and a Republican leader in the state without resolving the core issues in either case.
The Supreme Court’s official opinion is expected to be released within the coming days, as it’s nearing the end of its term, in early July. Thursday and Friday are marked as additional opinion days for the release of several high-profile decisions, including the ruling on former president Donald Trump’s presidential-immunity case.