Wisconsin abortion bills

Questions centering around abortion issues have been in the news since before Roe v. Wade back in 1973, and the last couple of weeks hasn’t been much different. Roe secured a woman’s right to have an abortion, but a reversal of that would not outlaw abortion nationwide, according to a recent CNN article; the issue reverting back to the states with a patchwork of possible consequences.

The Wisconsin Assembly, Tuesday, passed a measure which would add a new requirement for women seeking an abortion at or beyond their 20th week of pregnancy that there is suggestion that the unborn fetus has the physical structures at that age necessary to feel pain, and that abortions can cause substantial pain to a fetus. A comparable measure was passed by the Wisconsin Senate earlier, although Gov. Jim Doyle has indicated that he would veto the measure.

Although fetal pain is an unsettled medical question, Arkansas, Georgia, and Minnesota all have similar provisions in effect.; and both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have pending legislation on the matter.