Wisconsin Supreme Court seeks investigation after abortion draft order leaks

Madison, Wisconsin CNN —

The chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court called for an investigation Wednesday after the leak of a draft order that showed the court would take a case brought by Planned Parenthood that seeks to declare that access to abortion is a right protected by the state constitution.

Chief Justice Annette Ziegler called for the investigation after Wisconsin Watch reported on the draft order that it obtained. The order as reported by Wisconsin Watch said the court would hear the court challenge, but it was not a ruling on the case itself.

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“Today the entire court was shocked to learn that a confidential draft document was ostensibly leaked to the press,” Zielger said in a statement. “I have contacted law enforcement to request that a full investigation be conducted.”

She said all seven justices were “united behind this investigation to identify the source of the apparent leak. The seven of us condemn this breach.”

Ziegler is part of a three-justice conservative minority on the court. The draft order did not indicate which justices were in favor of accepting the abortion case, and there were no dissents indicated, according to Wisconsin Watch.

Planned Parenthood brought the lawsuit in February. It asks the Wisconsin Supreme Court to overturn a 175-year-old state law that conservatives have interpreted as an abortion ban.

That is the second abortion-related lawsuit before the court.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has not said whether it will accept the appeal of a lower court