From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin has filed a new lawsuit arguing that two state abortion restrictions infringe on personal freedoms.
Plaintiffs say they aim to establish a right to the procedure under the state constitution.
The lawsuit, filed in Dane County Circuit Court, argues that a state law requiring a 24-hour waiting period between an initial appointment and an abortion procedure is not medically necessary. It also argues against a state law that restricts abortion care, including medicated abortions, to licensed physicians as opposed to advanced practice clinicians.
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin President Tanya Atkinson said the lawsuit is about allowing Wisconsinites to make reproductive healthcare decisions without “unnecessary government interference.”
“This case is bigger than any one restriction, it’s about whether our constitutional freedoms belong to each of us, or whether the government can make our most personal decisions for us. It’s about whether liberty is simply a word written in our constitution, or a promise that protects us in our actual lives,” Atkinson said yesterday at a press briefing.
The new lawsuit comes on the heels of the state Supreme Court’s ruling in July 2025 that a 1849 state law banning abortion could not be enforced. That same day the Court dismissed a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood challenging the constitutionality of the 1849 ban.
Diane Welsh, serving as legal counsel for Planned Parenthood, said the constitutionality of a right to an abortion in Wisconsin is “still very much a live question” following the court’s actions last summer.
“We think it will be successful because we think the language of our constitution, which guarantees us all persons life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, includes the right to bodily autonomy, which includes the very important decision about whether or when to have children,” Welsh said.
The lawsuit lists Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne as the defendant. Welsh said that Ozanne has been named the representative for all Wisconsin district attorneys as anyone who is not a licensed physician faces a criminal penalty for administering an abortion.
Wisconsin Right to Life Executive Director Heather Weininger criticized the lawsuit, saying it contradicted previous assertions that abortion was “a matter between a woman and her doctor.”
“Planned Parenthood isn’t asking to protect a private decision. It’s asking judges to hand it a permanent constitutional shield for its abortion-first business model,” Weininger said in a news release. “You cannot invoke our state Constitution’s right to life to defend an industry built on ending lives.”
— Dem gubernatorial nominee David Crowley and fellow Dems applauded the lawsuit, while GOP gubernatorial nominee Tom Tiffany vowed to uphold current state abortion laws.
“Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin’s landmark lawsuit is a reminder that Wisconsin must elect a governor who will protect reproductive rights and keep politicians out of private medical decisions,” Crowley said in a statement.
He went on to say Tiffany “supported banning abortion nationwide at zero weeks” and would bring his “extreme agenda to Wisconsin.”
Tiffany did not directly address Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit in a statement, but said he would uphold existing abortion law, which allows the procedure until 20 weeks after fertilization, unless the mother’s life is in danger.
He attacked Crowley for voting against a so-called “born alive” bill pushed by Wisconsin Republicans during Crowley’s time in the Legislature and said the Milwaukee County executive would “take Wisconsin from where we are today to one of the most extreme abortion policies in the country.”
— Wisconsin’s insurance regulators are advancing a pilot project assessing the use of AI by insurers and related risks.
Speaking yesterday during a meeting of the 2026 Legislative Council Study Committee on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Health Care, an advisor to the state Office of the Commissioner of Insurance highlighted goals of the AI Risk Evaluation Supplement.
Coral Manning, policy initiatives advisor for OCI, said the supplement was first drafted last year and has gone through five iterations to reach its current firm.
“It’s really a tool to allow us as regulators to understand how insurance carriers are using AI, and to make sure that they have effective governance in place to mitigate the risk,” Manning said yesterday.
In addition to providing a structure for regulators to review AI systems and give insurers a way to show they’re in compliance with existing laws, the effort aims to provide more education to regulators about the shifting landscape.
“As you can imagine, it’s such an ever-changing field that something that we try to do continuing education on for our carriers this year might be out of date in six months or a year,” she said.
OCI is asking insurers to quantify their use of AI, to get a handle on how many different models and systems are being used in the main regulated areas of insurance such as ratemaking and claims processing. While this differs substantially between companies — ranging from a dozen AI uses to thousands for a given company — the project is developing a “big picture” look at the sector.
Meanwhile, the agency is taking a closer look at applications that “pose a potentially higher risk,” looking at specific development parameters and underlying data being used in the AI models. For example, insurers might be using an AI tool to review satellite imagery to check if an addition was added to a property, flagging possible changes to be reviewed by a person.
“What we want to make sure though as a regulator is that not just … that they’re using the satellite imagery and there’s a human in the loop, but that they were making sure the tool wasn’t disproportionately flagging properties that are low-income, properties that are rural, properties that are in some other category that may cause a person to be treated differently,” Manning said.
The project is being done through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and involves 12 states in total, covering companies in health, property, casualty and life insurance segments. It’s been running since March and wraps up at the end of this month.
Organizers will hold a public comment period in October, with a goal of adopting an updated version of the supplement for implementation at the next national meeting of NAIC in November.
Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner Nathan Hodek said project partners aren’t yet at a point to advocate for new laws or regulations around AI in healthcare, but added the project will help pinpoint potential risks and set a framework for regulatory efforts to come.
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