Wisconsin GOP Introduce Bill To Ban Abortions After 14 Weeks

MADISON, Wis. — Republicans who management the Wisconsin Meeting launched a invoice Friday that might name for a binding statewide referendum on whether or not abortion needs to be banned after 14 weeks of being pregnant.

The GOP has scheduled a public listening to on the invoice for Monday afternoon on the state Capitol. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is sort of sure to veto the measure. Nonetheless, the proposal might nonetheless impress the conservative base after Democrats parlayed anger over the U.S. Supreme Courtroom’s resolution to overturn its landmark 1972 Roe v. Wade ruling, which legalized abortion nationwide, into large election wins throughout the nation.

Nowhere was that dynamic extra evident than in Wisconsin, the place Janet Protasiewicz won a seat on the state Supreme Court final yr after repeatedly saying on the marketing campaign path that she helps abortion rights. Her victory handed liberal justices a 4-3 majority on the courtroom.

So as to add to Republicans’ woes, a Dane County judge ruled this previous summer time that Wisconsin’s 174-year-old ban on abortion solely prohibits feticide, or an try to kill an unborn little one. The ruling emboldened Deliberate Parenthood, which had ceased offering providers within the wake of the U.S. Supreme Courtroom resolution, to resume operations in September. The case is on attraction, although, and sure will find yourself earlier than the state Supreme Courtroom.

Monday’s listening to is ready for a similar day Vice President Kamala Harris is ready to go to Waukesha County as a part of a nationwide tour selling reproductive rights, promising loads of headlines for each side on abortion.

One other Wisconsin legislation bans abortions after 20 weeks of being pregnant. The invoice Friday would outlaw abortions after 14 weeks of being pregnant, or about three months.

Forty-three states prohibit abortions after a sure level of viability, based on the Guttmacher Institute, a analysis group that helps abortion rights. Two states — Georgia and South Carolina — have legal guidelines in impact that ban abortion at six weeks, earlier than many ladies notice they’re pregnant. Nebraska and North Carolina have legal guidelines in impact that outlaw abortion at 12 weeks. Arizona and Florida have legal guidelines in impact that prohibit abortion at 15 weeks.

The Wisconsin invoice comes with a catch, although. The proposal requires a statewide referendum performed throughout April’s election asking voters whether or not the 14-week prohibition ought to take impact. If accepted, the invoice would take impact the day after the outcomes are licensed. If the query is rejected, the invoice wouldn’t take impact.

Wisconsin legislation doesn’t permit voters to put questions on the poll. Republican lawmakers have rejected Evers’ calls to create a means for voters to repeal the 1849 abortion ban.

Meeting Speaker Robin Vos said in December that he want to let voters determine whether or not to shrink the window for abortions. He mentioned then that passing a brand new abortion legislation would finish the uncertainty of ready for judges to interpret outdated legal guidelines.

Requested for remark Friday, Vos spokesperson Angela Joyce referred a reporter to Vos’ December feedback.

Joyce launched an announcement on behalf of Rep. Amanda Nedweski, the invoice’s chief Meeting sponsor, later Friday afternoon. Nedweski mentioned shrinking the window for an abortion might save lives.

Britt Cudaback, a spokesperson for Evers, referred reporters Friday to feedback Evers made final month during which he vowed to veto “any invoice that makes reproductive well being care any much less accessible for Wisconsinites than it’s proper now.”

“Which is what this invoice goals to do,” Cudaback mentioned.

The measure might not even get to Evers. The invoice must cross each the Meeting and the Senate earlier than going to the governor.

The Senate’s Republican majority chief, Devin LeMahieu, mentioned final week that it might be troublesome to get his caucus to coalesce round an abortion invoice that Evers would veto. LeMahieu spokesperson Brian Radday did not instantly return a message Friday looking for remark.