MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s liberal majority struck down the state’s 176-year-old abortion ban on Wednesday, ruling 4-3 that it was superseded by newer state laws regulating the procedure, including statutes that criminalize abortions only after a fetus can survive outside the womb.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday formally struck down an abortion ban from 1849 that had technically retaken effect after the U.S.

The liberal majority on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court struck down the state’s 176-year-old abortion ban on Wednesday, backing a lower court’s decision to overturn the 19th-century law. The 4-3 ruling ends three years of legal fighting over the issue,