Co-author of 14-week abortion ban bill defends leaving out exceptions for rape or incest

MADISON – A proposal seeking to ban abortion 14 weeks after "probable fertilization" does not include exceptions for cases of rape or incest because "a 14-week timeframe is a long enough timeframe to make a decision," a bill co-author told lawmakers on Monday.

Lawmakers on the Assembly Committee on Health, Aging and Long-Term Care heard testimony on a bill introduced Friday that would ban abortion after 14 weeks of pregnancy except in situations where the mother's life or health would be endangered without the procedure — a measure that would reduce the timeframe for legal abortions in Wisconsin by six weeks.

The bill requires voters to approve the policy before it could take effect and received a hearing the same day Vice President Kamala Harris visited Waukesha County to promote the Biden administration's focus on preserving abortion access ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Harris blasted the bill, calling it a proposal from "extremists" because it does not include exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape and incest.

Rep. Lisa Subeck, D-Madison, asked bill co-author Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, why the bill does not contain those exceptions. Nedweski countered that 14 weeks should be enough time for a woman to know she is pregnant and decide whether to continue that pregnancy and noted that she supported a bill last year that would have allowed doctors to provide abortions to victims of rape and incest and in situations when the mother is experiencing serious pregnancy complications.

"I'm not going to debate the science of biology here, but as a mother, and having known people who thought they didn't know they were pregnant, I have a really hard time believing that somebody who doesn't know they're pregnant at 14 weeks wants to know. Maybe they just don't want to know. I don't know that," Nedweski said. "But we have technology and medical advancements today that can tell you if you are pregnant the day after conception. So if you want to know if you're pregnant, you can find out."

Subeck responded, "I'm not prepared to make those judgments about what a 13-year-old who may be a victim of rape or incest may or may not know or may or may not have access to."

A spokeswoman for Evers said Friday he won't sign the proposal, which needs his support to head to voters on the April election ballot when voters will be turning out in higher numbers due to the Republican presidential primary. Evers has said he does not support reducing access to abortion in Wisconsin, which is currently banned after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

"The bottom line for me is this: Wisconsinites should be able to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions without interference from politicians who don’t know anything about their lives, their family, or their circumstances. And I’ll veto any bill that makes reproductive healthcare any less accessible for Wisconsinites than it is right now,” Evers said in a statement in December.

Legislative Democratic leaders said in a statement that "any proposal that makes abortion more difficult to access …is a nonstarter" for their caucuses.

"Let me be clear, there’s never a right moment for politicians to make your reproductive healthcare decisions for you," Subeck said in a statement.

Wisconsin Republicans have struggled to combat the political effects of the 2022 U.S Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, which effectively put back into place a law that had been interpreted for more than a century to ban all abortions except when the mother would die without one. Abortion has become a central issue in races in Wisconsin since.

"I am 100% absolutely unabashedly pro-life. And if it were up to me there would be no abortions in this world," Nedweski said during Monday's hearing. "Certainly though, this is not up to me alone, and people have a wide range of personal feelings and intimate feelings about this issue, as they have a right to. As a realist and a pragmatist I offered this life-saving legislation to ask the people what they want. To find out where we truly are in this society — what is the value of life?"

The bill deploys a seldom-used process by which a law passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor can be enacted only with voters' approval.

Currently, abortions are banned after 20 weeks of pregnancy after a ruling from a Dane County Circuit judge in a lawsuit challenging the state's abortion law. The decision is likely to be appealed to the state Supreme Court.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson in 2022 pitched the idea of polling voters on what limits should be on abortion access. Johnson, who was running for re-election at the time, said he wanted the state's abortion law to be updated to include exceptions for victims of rape and incest.

Johnson said in a statement on Monday that the GOP bill would "allow the voters of Wisconsin to decide what a reasonable solution is to this profound moral issue."

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, has said he wants voters to decide abortion rules instead of courts.

"I'd like to put something on the ballot in April that allows the people of Wisconsin to be the ones who get the final say on making a decision on abortion. So it's not the court. It's not the Legislature. It's not the governor. It's going to be the people who get the final choice," Vos said last month.

The proposal faces opposition from a coalition of anti-abortion groups including Wisconsin Right to Life, Wisconsin Family Action, Pro-Life Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Catholic Conference.

"Our message is one of compassion and support for women, while the pro-abortion industry offers only death and despair. We call on all pro-life elected officials to stand courageously in defense of all preborn children and their mothers, and to advocate for full support of both," said Wisconsin Right to Life legislative director Gracie Skogman.

The bill is also opposed by the Wisconsin section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

It's unclear whether Republicans who control the state Senate will support the bill. Currently, four Republican senators are listed as co-sponsors.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu has not signed on as a co-sponsor to the bill. In December, he said he was not sure how the Legislature would tackle the issue, but suggested it wouldn't be at issue until after a lawsuit challenging the state's abortion law had been resolved in the courts.

Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.