This post originally appeared at https://www.prolifewi.org/blog/2023/3/15/pro-life-wisconsin-strongly-opposes-legislation-weakening-state-abortion-ban

PRO-LIFE WISCONSIN STRONGLY OPPOSES LEGISLATION WEAKENING STATE ABORTION BAN

Today, March 15, 2023, State Senator Mary Felzkowski (R-Irma) and State Representative Donna Rozar (R-Marshfield) circulated for co-sponsorship legislation (LRB 2151/1 & LRB 2432/1) that would severely weaken Wisconsin’s current law abortion ban, s. 940.04, by adding exceptions for abortion in the cases of sexual assault, incest, life and health of the mother, and lethal fetal anomaly.

“A vote to add more exceptions to Wisconsin’s abortion ban is a vote to kill more preborn babies. It is that simple,” said Matt Sande, Pro-Life Wisconsin Legislative Director. “The fact is that legal abortion – the direct, intentional killing of a living preborn human being – is incapable of being justified. It is always and everywhere wrong, regardless of motivation or consequence. It may never be employed, even in the narrowest of circumstances, as a means to a greater end. It is incredibly disheartening that legislative Republicans are working to restore abortion to Wisconsin.”

Rape and incest are both criminal acts, and in our system of justice, we punish the criminal. We do not punish the victim, nor do we punish the criminal’s children. Abortion in the case of rape and incest serves only to cover the crimes of the perpetrator, facilitating sexual abuse and the sex trafficking industry.

“Rape is an egregious act of violence inflicted upon a woman,” said Anna DeMeuse, Pro-Life Wisconsin Communications Director. “We would all agree that no woman should ever be punished for the violence of her aggressor. She is innocent. In the same way, the child is also innocent and should never be punished for the violence of the father. Abortion does not solve a woman’s problem; it merely creates a new one. Women deserve better than abortion and all of the physical, emotional, and psychological difficulties that are proven to follow.”

Concerning abortion in the case of lethal fetal anomaly, Pro-Life Wisconsin has known of numerous women who have brought their babies to term and cherished the brief but precious moments of their child’s life. We know this is vital to healing.

“These cases are heartbreaking. Yet when a mother is able to hold, name, and love her newborn baby, surrounded by family, there is bittersweet joy and immense healing, despite an otherwise sorrowful reality,”said DeMeuse.”These babies are certainly worthy of our love and protection.”

Abortion, the intentional killing of a preborn baby, is never medically necessary to save the life or improve the health of the mother, as outlined by medical experts from the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG). Medical operations such as the removal of an ectopic pregnancy, an anembryonic pregnancy, or a molar pregnancy are moral. Legally, such operations are not considered abortions. The removal of such conditions has never been prosecuted in this country, even when the mother’s life was not immediately threatened. There is, therefore, no need to provide a specific exception for such cases in laws prohibiting abortion.

“If one wishes to address the mother’s life in pro-life legislation, there is a moral and effective way to do so,” said Sande. “Pro-Life Wisconsin would like to replace the broad and undefined life-of-the-mother exception in s.940.04 with language requiring equal care for both mom and baby, granting the physician immunity if he or she follows the requirement:”

No licensed physician who performs a medical procedure designed or intended to prevent the death of a pregnant mother is guilty of violating section 2 of this Act. However, the physician shall make reasonable medical efforts under the circumstances to preserve both the life of the mother and the life of her unborn child in a manner consistent with conventional medical practice. Medical treatment provided to the mother by a licensed physician which results in the accidental or unintentional injury or death to the unborn child is not a violation of this statute. (Section 4, 2006 South Dakota HB 1215)

Pro-Life Wisconsin urges all legislators to refrain from co-sponsoring LRB 2151/1 & LRB 2432/1.