Governor Tony Evers vetoes bills curtailing abortion rights in Wisconsin. The Democratic governor on Friday vetoed five bills passed in October by majority Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature.
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again today: as long as I’m governor, I will veto any legislation that turns back the clock on reproductive rights in this state—and that’s a promise,” Evers said in a press release accompanying the veto messages.
BREAKING: I just vetoed five bills that would restrict access to reproductive healthcare in Wisconsin. pic.twitter.com/c8VwZOSOFi
— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) December 3, 2021
The bills include one that would require doctors provide care for a child that survives an attempted abortion, and another that would make intentionally causing the death of a child born alive from an abortion attempt a felony punishable by life in prison.
Doctors have said that they are already ethically obligated to provide care for the child in such cases- something that rarely ever happens. Supports of the measures had called them added protection.
Other vetoed bills would reduce funding for abortion providers and make it illegal to abort a pregnancy based on the baby’s gender, race, or cognitive ability. Evers vetoed similar bills in 2019.
Republicans lack sufficient voters to overcome the Evers vetoes, which were issued two days after the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on Mississippi’s 15-week ban on abortions.
A decision to uphold that law could have the effect of overturning the 1973 Roe versus Wade decision which effectively legalized abortion in the U.S.