MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Republicans who control the Wisconsin Legislature announced a bill Wednesday that would create a rape and incest exception to the state’s 1849 abortion ban and clarify when abortions that protect the health of the mother would be allowed, but not returned. the same rights as in Roe v. Wade.
The move comes as a pending lawsuit backed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers seeks to overturn the ban. Evers rejected the Republican proposal saying, “I will not sign a bill that leaves Wisconsin women with fewer rights and freedoms than they had before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe.”
Republicans and their anti-abortion allies, who suffered multiple defeats on election questions in states across the political spectrum last year, are addressing the issue nationwide in a variety of ways, including seeking exemptions.
Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday that she hopes Democrats and Evers will be open to clarifying maternal health and creating an exemption for rape and incest up to 12 weeks into pregnancy.
Evers said during his successful re-election campaign last year that he would veto a bill that did not repeal the ban and restore the law as it was before Roe v. Wade was cancelled. Previously, Wisconsin law allowed abortion for any reason at 20 or more weeks after conception, or 22 weeks after the last menstrual cycle.
Current law makes it a crime to perform almost any abortion. The Republican bill would allow abortion only in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy for victims of rape or incest. It does not say how a determination will be made if a woman is a victim of rape or incest. The bill also does not provide a time limit for terminating a pregnancy that would cause “serious risk of death of the pregnant woman or irreversible physical disability of the woman’s main body functions.”
“We’re still proudly pro-life, but some things are different from 175 years ago,” Vos told the AP. “We wanted to put forward ideas that show we are willing to be enough.”
Evers and Democrats in Wisconsin and around the country have successfully capitalized on the US Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in June. Evers made abortion a central issue in his winning re-election campaign and a major issue in a high-stakes state Supreme Court race.
Vos said she asked Evers in December to open a compromise on abortion to address doctors’ concerns about what the current law can do to protect mothers’ health, but got no guarantees.
Evers has twice called a special session of the Legislature seeking to repeal the ban and create a way to put the question before voters. Republicans rejected the proposal in seconds, without debate.
The bill, which Republicans say is modeled after Wyoming law, must clear the Assembly and Senate before reaching Evers. Republican state Sen. Mary Felzkowski, who supported the measure, said there weren’t enough Republican votes to pass the Senate. Vos said he is confident he will get the support of 50 of the 64 Assembly Republicans.
Republicans also brought back a bill that would have allowed pharmacists to dispense birth control. Bill sponsor Rep. Joel Kitchens said he saw it as a way to prevent another unwanted pregnancy. The Assembly passed the proposal in the last session, but it died in the Senate.
Democrats have united to call for the state’s 174-year-old abortion ban to be lifted entirely.
Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul filed the lawsuit just days after Roe v. Wade was overthrown. He said the 1985 law allowing abortion up to fetal life supersedes Wisconsin’s 174-year-old ban on nearly all abortions. The point of survival is unclear; some doctors say around 20 weeks, others around 28 weeks.
The lawsuit also says the ban is unenforceable because it has become obsolete. The ban was enacted before women had the right to vote and before the Civil War.
The winner of the April 4 state Supreme Court race will determine majority control of the court that will decide the lawsuit. Democrat-backed candidate Janet Protasiewicz is running as a supporter of abortion rights. His opponent, conservative Dan Kelly, is backed by three of the nation’s top anti-abortion groups, all of whom support the ban.
Polls show a majority of Wisconsin voters support legalizing abortion and at least having an exemption for rape and incest.
Milwaukee, Dane and Sheboygan counties were the only places in Wisconsin where abortions were taking place before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The clinic stopped scheduling abortions after the court ruling.