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Have people been denied medical care over a miscarriage in Wisconsin due to the state's abortion ban?

By Erin Gretzinger
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YES

Several reports and doctors' accounts indicate that pregnant individuals in Wisconsin have been forced to delay or were denied medical care during a miscarriage due to the state's abortion ban.

The New York Times reported the story of a Wisconsin woman — as told by her gynecologist — who bled for days from a miscarriage after a hospital declined to perform a procedure to remove the fetus "because of the laws."

NBC News reported that after a woman's water broke at 18 weeks — to early for a fetus to survive — and she started showing signs of infection, her doctor "faced a dilemma" about whether to perform an abortion, fearing, "Will the DA go after me and I end up fined or in jail?"

Wisconsin's 1849 abortion ban permits abortions only to save the life of a pregnant person. Experts and doctors have said the antiquated language of the Wisconsin law causes confusion about when doctors can intervene and provide medical care to individuals facing miscarriage.

See a full discussion of this at Wisconsin Watch
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
New York Times They Had Miscarriages, and New Abortion Laws Obstructed Treatment
NBC News Pregnant women in states with abortion bans face the reality of a post-Roe world
Wisconsin State Legislature Wisconsin Legislature: 940.04
Wisconsin Watch Wisconsin’s 173-year-old ban allows only life-saving ‘therapeutic abortions.’ No one knows what that means.
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Wisconsin Watch
Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.