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Yes.

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Wisconsin taxpayers paid $1.6 million to Planned Parenthood and others who sued over a 2013 state law that was ruled an unconstitutional restriction on abortion access.

In a new attack, the Wisconsin Democratic Party blamed conservative Brad Schimel for the costs, but he didn’t become state attorney general until 2015. 

Schimel faces liberal Susan Crawford in the April 1 state Supreme Court election.

The law would have required doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of where an abortion was done. 

After Planned Parenthood sued, federal judge William Conley in Madison temporarily blocked the law, then in 2015 ruled it unconstitutional.

Schimel appealed, arguing the restriction was reasonable. A three-judge federal appeals court in Chicago upheld Conley. Schimel asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case, but it refused.

Conley ordered the $1.6 million payment.

Federal law enables plaintiffs to sue for legal fees in successful civil rights cases.

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Tom Kertscher joined Wisconsin Watch as a full-time reporter in October 2024. He started as a fact checker in January 2023 and contributes to our collaboration with the The Gigafact Project to fight misinformation online. Kertscher is a former longtime newspaper reporter, including at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He is a contributing writer for Milwaukee Magazine and sports freelancer for The Associated Press.