Wisconsin justices ruled 4-3 to overturn a near abortion ban, a reflection of the court's liberal majority and an election that attracted millions in campaign donations.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down the state’s 176-year-old abortion ban in a 4-3 ruling, saying that it was superseded by a more recent state law criminalizing abortions only in cases when a fetus is viable outside the womb.

A narrow majority of justices found that by regulating abortion, legislators had "impliedly repealed" the state's near-total ban on the procedure. Dissenters called the ruling pure policymaking.