State Republicans Unveil a Bill Making Changes to State's 1849 Abortion Law

Thursday, March 16th, 2023 -- 2:00 PM

(AP) Republicans who control the Wisconsin Legislature unveiled a bill Wednesday that would create rape and incest exceptions to the state’s 1849 abortion ban and clarify when abortions that protect the health of the mother would be allowed, but would not return the same rights that were in place under Roe v. Wade.

The move comes as a pending lawsuit supported by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers seeks to overturn the ban entirely. Republicans and their anti-abortion allies, who suffered a series of defeats in ballot questions in states across the political spectrum last year, are tackling 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 he hoped Democrats and Evers would be open to clarifying the health of the mother exception and creating rape and incest exceptions for up to 12 weeks into a pregnancy.

Evers said during his successful reelection campaign last year that he would veto any bill that does not do away with the ban entirely and return the law as it was before Roe v. Wade was overturned.

Before then, Wisconsin law allowed for abortions for any reason at 20 or more weeks post-fertilization, or 22 weeks after the last menstrual cycle. The Republican bill would only allow for abortions in the first 12 weeks of a pregnancy for victims of rape or incest.

It does not put a time limit on ending pregnancies that would cause “a serious risk of death of the pregnant woman or of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the woman.”

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