Wisconsin State Assembly advances referendum to ban abortions after 14 weeks of pregnancy absent ‘medical emergency’

The Republican-majority Wisconsin State Assembly passed AB 975 by a 53-46 vote on Thursday, which would add a referendum to the April 2024 election to ban most abortions after 14 weeks of pregnancy. Under current Wisconsin law, most abortions are prohibited after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Under the proposed bill, abortions would be prohibited in the state absent a “medical emergency,” which Wisconsin law defines as:

… a condition, in a physician’s reasonable medical judgment, that so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant woman as to necessitate the immediate abortion of her pregnancy to avert her death or for which a 24-hour delay in performance or inducement of an abortion will create serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of one or more of the woman’s major bodily functions.

Additionally, under the proposed bill, if a medical emergency is present after 14 weeks of pregnancy, the physician

shall terminate the pregnancy in the manner that, in reasonable medical judgment, provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive, unless the termination of the pregnancy in that manner poses a greater risk either of the death of the pregnant woman or of the substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the woman than other available methods.

The bill also mandates that the performing physician provide a statement about the abortion performed.

The bill now goes to the Republican-majority Wisconsin State Senate for approval. If the state senate approves, the bill will go to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, for approval. In response to the bill, Evers stated:

The people of Wisconsin have already made themselves clear on this issue, and so have I. I promised to veto any bill that takes away Wisconsinites’ reproductive freedom or makes reproductive healthcare any less accessible than it is today. I’ll keep that promise.

This is not the only referendum concerning abortion rights that may appear on the 2024 ballots. Earlier this month, the Florida Division of Elections released data confirming that the group Floridians Protecting Freedom (FPF) successfully gathered the required number of signatures to put an amendment on the Florida ballot to enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution. Additionally, in 2023, abortion rights advocates in Arizona filed paperwork to include the issue on the November 2024 ballot, and Ohio voters voted in favor of enshrining abortion rights into the state’s constitution.