The state Senate passes new rules governing abortion services in Wisconsin. The vote on the measure comes after Democrats delay action Tuesday with a procedural move. The bill prohibits so-called “webcam abortions,” and requires doctors perform physical exams prior to performing abortions. The author is New Berlin Republican Senator Mary Lazich. “To have a loophole in our law which allows a new technology – webcam abortions – to give women a lesser standard of care, to get s medication without having a physical, we should not be allowing that loophole in our law,” Lazich says.
Democrats pounce on Lazich’s assertion that the bill is about standards of care. “This is simply the jackboot of state government on the necks of individuals,” says Senator Jim Holperin of Eagle River. “Only big government against women,” charges Madison Democrat, Senator Fred Risser. “We do a lot of silly things here, but injecting ourselves into the relationship between a physician and a patient . . . is truly misguided,” says Minority Leader, Senator Mark Miller of Monona.
“You want to vote against young girls and women getting a physical, that’s what you’re doing with this vote,” says Lazich. The bill, (SB 306) which also requires doctors to make sure women are not being coerced, passed on a partisan 17-15 vote and now heads to the Assembly.
AUDIO: Bob Hague reports (1:05)
