Pill-based abortions resume in Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. — Women can now get medication-induced abortions at Wisconsin clinics after a Dane County judge blocked a recent state law from restricting that procedure.

The law enacted last year requires three doctor visits for women seeking nonsurgical abortions by taking pills, a common practice used outside Wisconsin. Doctors have to determine if a woman is being coerced into having an abortion through a private consultation. Web-based consultations are prohibited.

Dane County Judge Richard Niess issued an injunction in April, barring the law’s provisions from taking into effect.

The Wisconsin State Journal reported the 2012 law has stopped Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin from offering pill-based abortions since April last year. The organization says that practice accounted for about 45 percent of pregnancy-termination procedures they were using.