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Wisconsin judge: Lawsuit to repeal abortion ban can persist
Regardless of how the circuit court judge ultimately rules, the case will almost certainly rise to the state Supreme Court.
MADISON, Wis. — Editor’s note: The video above first aired on KARE 11 in April 2023.
A judge refused Friday to toss out a lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s 174-year-old abortion ban, inching the case toward the state Supreme Court and keeping the debate over abortion rights center stage.
Wisconsin lawmakers enacted statutes outlawing abortion in all cases except to save the mother’s life in 1849, a year after Wisconsin became a state. The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion had nullified the ban, but legislators never repealed it. Then, the high court’s decision last June to overturn Roe v. Wade reactivated the statutes.
The state’s Democratic attorney general, Josh Kaul, has vowed to restore abortion access. He filed a lawsuit in Dane County days after Roe v. Wade was overturned, seeking to repeal the ban. Kaul argues that the ban is too old to enforce and that a 1985 law that permits abortions before a fetus can survive outside the womb supersedes the ban. Three doctors later joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs, saying they fear being prosecuted for performing abortions.
Kaul has named district attorneys in the three counties where abortion clinics operated until the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade as defendants. One of them, Sheboygan County’s Republican district attorney, Joel Urmanski, filed a motion seeking to dismiss the case in December.
Urmanski maintains that it’s a stretch to argue that the ban is so old it can no longer be enforced and that the 1985 law and the ban complement each other. Since the newer law outlaws abortions post-viability, it simply gives prosecutors another charging option, he contends.
Kaul’s attorneys have countered that the two laws are in conflict and doctors need to know where they stand.
Dane County Circuit Judge Diane Schlipper explained in a written ruling denying Urmanski’s dismissal motion that the 1849 ban makes killing fetuses by assaulting or battering the mother illegal and doesn’t apply to consensual abortion. That means the doctor plaintiffs could ultimately win a declaration that they can’t be prosecuted for performing abortions and hence the case should continue, Schlipper wrote.
The ruling means that the lawsuit will continue in Schlipper’s courtroom. Regardless of how the judge ultimately rules, the case carries so much weight for the future of the state that it almost certainly will rise to the state Supreme Court, which is exactly where Democrats want it.
Liberal justices will control the court with a 4-3 majority after progressive Janet Protasiewicz is sworn in on Aug. 1. She stopped short on the campaign trail of saying how she would rule on a challenge to the 1849 ban but said repeatedly she supports abortion rights.
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According to the report, the BPPD said Andre Lane has been missing since 11 a.m. this morning.
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — The Brooklyn Park Police Department is asking for the public to help find a missing man who has Alzheimer’s.
According to the alert, the BPPD said 57-year-old Andre Lane has been missing since 2 p.m. this afternoon.
He stands at 5’9″ and weighs roughly 250 pounds. Lane suffers from Alzheimer’s and dementia and may not be able to take care of himself, said the BPPD.
Lane was last seen wearing grayish-blue Levi’s jacket, black hat, black sweatpants, a gray long sleeve t-shirt and black Jordan shoes, according to the report.
Officials believe Lane left his residence, near the 6600 block of Tessman Terrace, on foot. The BPPD is asking people who live near Tessman Farm Road/85th Avenue North to check yards and properties.
Anyone who sees Lane is asked to contact the Brooklyn Park Police Department at 763-493-8222.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
The driver in the vehicle involved is reportedly cooperating with police and the investigation remains open and active.
ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — A woman has died after being struck by a vehicle in the parking lot of St. Louis Park’s Knollwood Mall.
A city spokesperson told KARE the incident happened Friday afternoon in the parking lot of The Shoppes at Knollwood. The city said despite life-saving efforts by emergency responders and paramedics, the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver in the vehicle involved is reportedly cooperating with police and the investigation remains open and active.
The victim, an adult woman, has not yet been identified.
Known as “Jeff the Giant,” Jeff Pangburn is well-known around Oak Harbor, Washington.
OAK HARBOR, Wash. — Jeff Pangburn has lived on Whidbey Island for 43 years. It’s his home, even if he doesn’t technically have one.
“I stay out in the woods,” Pangburn said. “It’s my time with God.”
For the past 15 years, Pangburn has lived in the woods of Oak Harbor. He’s a friendly face known all around town. People honk and wave to him as they drive by.
“I’m a popular guy, I guess,” Pangburn said.
But a recent tragedy has cast a shadow on Pangburn’s spirit.
“I’ve been bawling my head off like crazy,” Pangburn said. “I was sobbing tears, you know?”
Pangburn was bedded down for the night in a gazebo on Dec. 2 when 15-year-old Grace Horn’s car came crashing just 4 feet away. She failed to negotiate the curve at the intersection of state Route 20 and Libbey Road. Horn was reportedly delivering food to make money for Christmas presents.
Pangburn said he immediately called 911 and tried to pull Horn from the car as it burned, but the flames were too much. A power pole was also burning. Pangburn feared he might be electrocuted if the wires came down, so he ran into the woods.
Pangburn said he was heartbroken he could not do more.
“I couldn’t get in,” Pangburn said. “I couldn’t get in the vehicle and then the fire. I couldn’t do any more than what I did. If you know me you know that must really hurt for me not being able to do anything.”
Pangburn returned to the scene and spoke with authorities about what he saw. He freely admits he was in and out of jail for two decades, but said he has been on the straight and narrow for 15 years.
“I was a lousy criminal,” Pangburn said.
He now makes his home among the trees where he is most comfortable. By day he pulls his overloaded cart to Spin Café, which helps people in need on the island.
“This situation has been very hard on him,” said Valerie Roseberry, a case manager at the café.
At 6-foot-10, Pangburn is known as a “gentle giant” with a heart to match.
In recent weeks he has been offering extra blankets to those who might need them at the café. No one is surprised Pangburn would try to help someone in a desperate, dangerous situation like the one Horn found herself in.
“Of course, Jeff would do that,” Roseberry said. “Of course, he would. Honestly, as a mom, I am so grateful he was there so that she had somebody.”
Community members established an online fundraiser for Pangburn.
Pangburn said he does not want to profit from the misery of others but would like to use any donations to buy an RV and move out of the woods.
People can also donate size 17 shoes, socks, 2XL sweatpants, 4XL-sized hoodies, coats, hand warmers, beanies and gift cards at DK Market in Oak Harbor.
The Washington State Patrol said there have been at least 23 crashes at the intersection where Horn died over the past five years.
Pangburn believes the best way to honor her and him is to demand safety improvements be made.
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