Republican state lawmakers on Wednesday called on Democrats to abandon a previous proposal that would have barred some state restrictions on abortion.
Under the bill, an abortion could be performed at any point during a pregnancy if it was determined by a physician to be necessary to protect the life or health of the mother. That aligns with current state law, which bans abortions after 20 weeks unless they are caused by a medical emergency.
The proposal would also prevent the state from restricting abortions at any point before a baby could be born with a reasonable chance of survival and from creating barriers to accessing abortion services, unless those laws or rules are in the interest of health.
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More than 30 Democratic legislators signed on as co-sponsors of that bill during the last legislative session. The bill was never taken up for a vote.
As similar measures have led to recent conflict in Virginia and New York, Republican lawmakers held a press conference in Madison to urge Democrats to abandon the bill.
“We have a reason to be concerned in Wisconsin, because there is obviously across the nation a nationwide attack on the unborn,” said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester. “We are not going to allow that to happen in Wisconsin.”
A number of Republican lawmakers became emotional as they spoke about pregnancy, childbirth and abortion during a Capitol press conference. Several equated the Democrat-backed proposal to state-sanctioned murder of infants.
“I think the real thing we’re talking about here is infanticide,” said state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls. “Do we want to bring our society to the monstrous reality of infanticide?”
Wisconsin Right to Life, a statewide advocacy organization, said Wednesday it will also work to oppose any changes to Wisconsin abortion laws.
“With the recent events surrounding the abortion issue in Virginia and New York, it has become clear what the endgame is for abortion advocates who support killing our unborn babies: Abortion through all nine months of pregnancy for any reason and, should the baby be born alive after a failed abortion, infanticide,” said Heather Weininger, executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life.
But one of the sponsors of the previous bill, Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, refuted those statements. She said the proposal would simply put existing constitutional protections into state law.
“The only exceptions after viability (of the fetus) is when a women’s life or health is threatened which has been the law of the land for decades,” Taylor tweeted. “My bill does nothing to disrupt that but incorporates it in state law.”
Taylor pushed back on Vos’ characterization of her bill as “radical.”
“You’re the radical for opposing safe, legal abortions, which most Wisconsinites support,” Taylor tweeted.
An October 2018 poll from Marquette University Law School found 56 percent of those surveyed said abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
Abortion advocates, including Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, also argued the Republican criticism wasn’t in the interest of women’s health.
“Over the last several years, anti-abortion politicians in Wisconsin have proven that they will stop at nothing to push their agenda to ban safe, legal abortion — including making outlandish accusations that are not based in fact or medical science,” said Mel Barnes, legal and policy director for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin. “These claims are horrifying and offensive.”
Taylor did not respond to a request for comment about whether she would reintroduce the bill during the current legislative session.
If she does, Vos said he has “every confidence it would not pass.”
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