The Wisconsin Legislative Council warned at the time that extending protections to fetuses in all stages of pregnancy likely would be unconstitutional.

Doctors who say the law discourages pregnant women struggling with addiction from seeking prenatal care and being open about drug use praised the ruling.

“For the first time in 19 years, Wisconsin women who become pregnant and seek medical help can do so without fear that their confidentiality will be violated and their health and their baby’s health undermined by forced treatment and punishment based on medical misinformation and stigma,” said Dr. Kathy Hartke, chair of the Wisconsin chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Dr. Aleksandra Zgierska, president of the Wisconsin chapter of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, said babies’ health has more to do with socioeconomic factors such as poverty, nutrition and access to health care than what pregnant women do or don’t do during pregnancy.

“The best ways to protect babies and grow healthy children is to provide confidential, non-threatening health care that keeps mothers engaged in treatment, if they need it, and mothers and babies together,” Zgierska said.