Wisconsin Democrat Governor Vetoes All Pro-Life Bills Passed by Republican Lawmakers

Tony Evers
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
Dr. Susan Berry

Wisconsin Democrat Gov. Tony Evers fulfilled his promise Friday to veto all the pro-life bills passed by the state legislature, including one that would have protected babies who survive abortion from infanticide.

The Republican-led Assembly and Senate passed the four measures with all Democrats opposing them.

“I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to the political interference between patients and their healthcare providers,” Evers said in his veto message regarding Assembly Bill 179, the Born-Alive legislation. “Further, this bill is redundant because the protections this bill seeks to provide already exist in state law.”

The bill would have given lifetime prison sentences for abortionists who failed to provide medical care to infants who were born alive after abortions.

Planned Parenthood – the nation’s largest abortion vendor – expressed its gratitude to Evers on Twitter:

“I’m incredibly saddened, though not surprised, that Gov. Evers has chosen to ignore the voices of Wisconsinites from all over the state who support these pieces of legislation,” said Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, reported the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “As a father, conservative, and legislator, I will continue fighting for those who don’t have a voice and ensuring our unborn receive the protections they deserve.”

The other bills would have prohibited abortions on the basis of race, sex, or disability of the unborn baby (AB 182); eliminated Medicaid funding for all Planned Parenthood facilities (AB 183); and required doctors to inform women they can reverse the effects of drug-induced abortions if they act quickly (AB 180).

Evers said he objected to AB 180 because it is not “evidence-based.”

However, in a recent Frontline documentary, which highlighted drug-induced abortion, pro-life OB/GYN Dr. Monique Ruberu, said she tells women who take the abortion drug mifepristone (RU-486) they have 72 hours in which to reverse its effects if they are prescribed progesterone.

“The babies that are saved from the RU-486 do awesome, and they don’t have any problems following as far as we know,” she explained.

Evers also objected to AB 182, which would have banned abortions based on the race or sex of the child, or due to a prenatal diagnosis of a disability.

“Policies such as this interfere with deeply personal decisions and confidential conversations between patients and healthcare providers,” the governor wrote in his veto message. “Licensed healthcare professionals should be trusted to give appropriate evidence-based medical advice.”

In his veto message regarding AB 183, Evers said he objects to the measure because it places a “restriction on women’s access to basic reproductive healthcare.”

Heather Weininger, executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life, said in response to Evers’ vetoes of all the pro-life legislation, “We now know that Governor Evers cares more about the abortion industry than women and babies in Wisconsin.”

She added:

Just 24 hours after receiving the bills, and late on a Friday afternoon, Governor Evers ensured that women in Wisconsin won’t receive relevant information when seeking an abortion; babies who are born alive after failed abortion attempts won’t receive care; and unborn children will continue to face discrimination in the womb based on race, gender, or disability diagnosis.

“This is not the last time these issues will come up while he is governor,” Weininger said.

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