MADISON, Wis.—The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday invalidated the state’s 1849 abortion statute, a near-total ban that had been dormant for decades, in a 4–3 ruling. Writing for the liberal majority, Justice Rebecca Dallet said subsequent legislation—most notably a 1985 law allowing abortions until fetal viability and a 2015 statute prohibiting the procedure after 20 weeks—“so thoroughly covers the entire subject of abortion” that it supplants the 19th-century prohibition. The case stemmed from Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul’s 2022 lawsuit against Sheboygan County District Attorney Joel Urmanski, who had argued the 1849 law revived when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade that year. Providers halted abortions amid the uncertainty but resumed them after a 2023 circuit-court ruling; the state high court’s decision gives clinics firmer legal footing, while leaving existing post-20-week restrictions intact. In dissent, Justice Annette Ziegler called the majority’s reasoning “a jaw-dropping exercise of judicial will,” accusing the court of usurping legislative authority. The outcome underscores the impact of the court’s newly established 4–3 liberal majority and leaves unresolved a separate constitutional challenge to Wisconsin’s remaining abortion regulations that is still pending before the justices.