Wisconsin is characterized as a restrictive state by the Guttmacher Institute.
Abortion is banned after 20 weeks gestational duration (with exceptions to preserve the life or physical health of the pregnant woman).
In the US, people who are not white and people with low incomes are more likely to experience barriers to reproductive health care access.
IN THIS STATE
As of 2024, 1.2 million women are of reproductive age in Wisconsin.
- 9.8 percent are low income (lower than the national average), making them likely eligible for Medicaid
- 26.4 percent are nonwhite (lower than the national average), and Hispanic women are the largest nonwhite group (9.6 percent; similar to the national average)
- 7.8 percent are uninsured (lower than the national average)
Wisconsin has not expanded Medicaid and provides coverage only to parents and adults without dependent children who have incomes up to 100 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) and pregnant women with incomes up to 306 percent of FPL. The state has extended pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage up to 12 months postpartum. Wisconsin does not use state funds to cover abortion for Medicaid beneficiaries, with limited exceptions. The state does cover family planning services for people not otherwise eligible for Medicaid who have incomes up to 306 percent of FPL.
Accessing Abortion Care
In 2026, five clinics provide abortions in Wisconsin—up from four clinics in 2020. This number excludes hospitals.
Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) are organizations—often operated by anti-abortion, nonmedical, and/or religiously affiliated groups—that aim to deter people from certain reproductive health care services, including abortion and some contraceptive methods. In 2025, there were 52 CPCs in Wisconsin—more than 10 times the number of abortion-providing clinics. These centers receive state funding.
Patients face the following restrictions on abortion access:
Abortion providers face the following restrictions that limit their ability to practice:
Accessing Contraceptive Care
According to Power to Decide, around 360,000 women of reproductive age in Wisconsin live in contraceptive access gaps, putting them at increased risk of a mistimed or unintended pregnancy.
Wisconsin does not have any of the following protections for contraception access:
What to Watch For
In 2015, Wisconsin passed Act 56, a 20-week abortion ban that is still in effect.
Following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision in June 2022, an 1849 state statute interpreted as a total abortion ban went back into effect, halting abortion services in Wisconsin for 15 months. The state’s attorney general filed a lawsuit challenging that interpretation, and a lower court decision allowed clinics to resume abortion care in September 2023. With the ban lifted, the state’s 20-week limit again became governing law. In July 2025, the state Supreme Court struck down the 1849 law, ruling that more recent laws had impliedly repealed it.
In July 2026, a new Wisconsin law took effect extending postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to one year.
In November 2026, Wisconsin will elect a new governor. Democratic candidate David Crowley’s campaign website does not state his platform on reproductive health. However, it does note that Crowley cosponsored Assembly Joint Resolution 10, which declared that “abortion is health care,” while he was serving in the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2017. The measure was unsuccessful. Republican candidate Tom Tiffany’s campaign website does not state his platform on reproductive health. While serving in the US House of Representatives, he voted against the unsuccessful Right to Contraception Act in 2022 and cosponsored the also unsuccessful Heartbeat Protection Act of 2023, which would have banned abortion after around six weeks of pregnancy at the federal level.
Last updated: September 2026
