Such a path could drastically raise the stakes for federal investigations of state or county officials, bringing the department and the threat of criminalization into the election system.

After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Republican prosecutors in Wisconsin said they intended to enforce the old law.

Abortion providers in the state resumed the procedure in 2023 after a judge ruled that a more recent law superseded the 176-year-old ban.