File photo: WRN
Less than a day after approving the state budget, the Assembly will be back in session today to take up a controversial abortion bill.
The legislation, which the state Senate approved last month, would ban abortions after the 20 week mark in a pregnancy. Backers of the push argue it’s needed to keep fetuses from experiencing the pain caused by an abortion, although critics contend most medical research indicates a fetus is not capable of feeling pain at that point in a pregnancy.
State Rep. Katrina Shankland (D-Stevens Point) said Republicans were trying to distract from their “terrible budget” by voting on a policy that’s “horrible for Wisconsin women.”
If signed by Governor Walker, the bill is almost certain to face a court challenge due to not including exceptions for rape, incest, and the health of the mother. Sarah Finger with Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health says that means “Wisconsin taxpayers will have to foot another legal challenge bill for something that never should have been brought up as a policy proposal to begin with.”