Wisconsin governor signs 20-week abortion ban
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican presidential hopeful, signed a bill Monday making it a felony to perform abortions after 20 weeks from fertilization unless a woman’s life is in immediate danger.
Doctors who violate the law could be sentenced to 3½ years in prison and fined up to $10,000, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“At five months, that’s the time when that unborn child can feel pain,” Walker said. “When an unborn child can feel pain, we should be protecting that child.”
According to Reuters, 12 other states have similar bans. One in Idaho was recently found (PDF) unconstitutional by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Courts have blocked other laws in Georgia and Arizona, according to the Journal Sentinel.
Also, the paper reports that out of the 6,462 Wisconsin abortions performed in 2013, 89 involved pregnancies past 20 weeks.
Walker also called for the replacement of the members of the state’s Governmental Accountability Board, the Journal Sentinel reported. The board is currently staffed by retired lawyers and judges and oversees governmental elections and ethics laws. Conservatives have criticized the board’s participation in an investigation—halted last week by the Wisconsin Supreme Court— into Walker’s campaign.
