After intense deliberation, the state Senate reconvened Wednesday morning to pass a bill Republicans say would more effectively prevent a woman from being coerced into receiving an abortion.
The bill, passed along party lines, requires a physician to speak privately with a woman before an abortion to ensure consent and perform a physical examination. If a physician does not follow the law, he or she could receive a felony charge.
In addition, the bill requires a physician to be present when the abortion drugs are administered, preventing “web cam abortions” in which the physician can administer abortion-inducing drugs over a live video stream. Such procedures are just now being introduced to Wisconsin but currently occurring in Minnesota and Iowa.
“For far too long, numbers of women have reported that they were coerced into having abortions,” Executive Director of Wisconsin Right to Life Barbara Lyons said in a statement Wednesday. “This bill ensures that an assessment will be made to determine if a woman’s consent to an abortion is voluntary.”
But Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin views the bill as a dangerous proposal intended to advance the pro-life cause.
“Senate Bill 306 is just another unnecessary and politically motivated attack on women’s health care,” said Tanya Atkinson, executive director for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin, a pro-choice advocacy group.
“Rather than focus on our economy and the need to enhance health care access, legislators are working to dictate medical practices and implement policies that are unnecessary,” Atkinson added.
