Republicans amend 14-week abortion ban measure to include rape and incest exceptions

MADISON - Republican lawmakers voted on Tuesday to add exceptions for pregnancies that result from sexual assaults and incest to a bill that would ban abortions in Wisconsin after 14 weeks of pregnancy.

Rep. Donna Rozar, R-Marshfield, introduced amendments to the bill Tuesday that would add the exceptions and require doctors to "make reasonable efforts" to preserve the life of the fetus during medical emergencies. Members of the Assembly health committee voted to accept them.

The proposal addresses a major criticism of the bill from Democrats. During a public hearing on Monday, another bill author defended not including such exceptions.

Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, said she did not include exceptions for rape and incest because "a 14-week timeframe is a long enough timeframe to make a decision."

"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.

Democratic Rep. Lisa Subeck of Madison said she did not want lawmakers 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 Gov. Tony 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.

Molly Beck and Jessie Opoien can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com and jessie.opoien@jrn.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin abortion bill amended to include rape, incest exceptions