DAK:jld:pg
2005 - 2006 LEGISLATURE
March 23, 2005 - Introduced by Senators Grothman, Leibham, Cowles, S.
Fitzgerald, Zien, Reynolds, Brown, A. Lasee, Lazich, Kanavas, Kedzie,
Kapanke, Stepp
and Roessler, cosponsored by Representatives Nischke,
LeMahieu, Gundrum, Kerkman, Kestell, Kreibich, Ballweg, Loeffelholz,
Davis, Krawczyk, Ainsworth, Van Roy, Hines, Jeskewitz, Gottlieb, Bies, M.
Williams, Strachota, Honadel, Owens, J. Fitzgerald, Nass, Gunderson,
Vrakas, Montgomery, Kleefisch, Hahn, Towns, Underheim, Wieckert,
Albers, Ott, Petrowski, Wood, McCormick, Pridemore
and Hundertmark.
Referred to Committee on Health, Children, Families, Aging and Long Term
Care.
SB138,1,3 1An Act to amend 253.10 (3) (d) 2. and 253.10 (4); and to create 253.10 (1) (a)
24m. and 253.10 (3) (c) 1. dm. of the statutes; relating to: voluntary and
3informed consent for abortions.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, except in the case of a medical emergency, no abortion may
be performed or induced unless the woman seeking the abortion first gives voluntary,
written consent after numerous requirements are fulfilled. One of the requirements
is that, at least 24 hours before the abortion is to be performed, the physician who
is to perform the abortion, another physician, or an assistant orally informs the
woman of her right to receive and review certain written materials. The physician
or assistant must physically give the woman the materials and inform her that they
are free of charge, have been provided by the state, describe the unborn child, and
list agencies that offer alternatives to abortion. The Department of Health and
Family Services (DHFS) must print the materials and distribute them to county
departments; physicians who intend to perform or induce abortions must request
copies of the materials from DHFS or a county department.
This bill requires that a physician who is to perform an abortion or another
physician orally inform a woman who is seeking an abortion that, if the probable
gestational age of the woman's unborn child is 20 weeks or more, all of the following
apply:
1. The unborn child has the physical structures necessary to experience pain.

2. There is evidence that by 20 weeks' gestation unborn children seek to evade
certain stimuli in a manner that in an infant or an adult would be interpreted to be
a response to pain.
3. There is evidence that the abortion methods most commonly used when an
unborn child is at 20 weeks' gestation or older cause substantial pain to the unborn
child.
The bill further requires that the materials that DHFS is required to print and
distribute and that physicians are required to provide to women seeking abortions
contain several statements, as specified in the bill, concerning pain experienced by
unborn children of 20 weeks' or more gestation who are aborted and concerning
methods of certain abortions.
Lastly, the bill requires that DHFS revise the current materials that are
required to be provided to women seeking abortions so as to include the required
statements, publish and distribute the materials, and notify physicians of the
availability of the revised materials. Physicians who intend to perform abortions
and county departments must replace any current materials with the materials
revised as specified in the bill.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be
printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SB138, s. 1 1Section 1. 253.10 (1) (a) 4m. of the statutes is created to read:
SB138,3,102 253.10 (1) (a) 4m. By 20 weeks' gestation, an unborn child has the physical
3structures necessary to experience pain. There is substantial evidence that by 20
4weeks' gestation unborn children seek to evade certain stimuli in a manner that in
5an infant or an adult would be interpreted to be a response to pain. Anesthesia is
6routinely administered to unborn children who are 20 weeks' gestational age or older
7who undergo prenatal surgery. There is evidence that the abortion methods most
8commonly used when an unborn child is at 20 weeks' gestation or older, whether by
9dismemberment, poisoning, penetrating the skull, or crushing the skull, cause
10substantial pain to the unborn child. For example, the dilation and evacuation
11method of abortion is commonly performed in the 2nd trimester of pregnancy. In a
12dilation and evacuation abortion, the unborn child's body parts are grasped at

1random with a long-toothed clamp. The fetal body parts are then torn off the body
2and pulled out of the vaginal canal. The remaining body parts are grasped and pulled
3out until only the head remains. The head is then grasped and crushed in order to
4remove it from the vaginal canal. Another example is the partial-birth abortion
5method, or dilation and extraction, which is usually performed in the 2nd trimester
6of pregnancy. In a partial-birth abortion, the person performing the abortion
7delivers the unborn child's body until only the head remains inside the womb. The
8person then punctures the back of the unborn child's skull with a sharp instrument
9and sucks out the unborn child's brains before completing the delivery of the dead
10infant.
SB138, s. 2 11Section 2. 253.10 (3) (c) 1. dm. of the statutes is created to read:
SB138,3,1912 253.10 (3) (c) 1. dm. If the probable gestational age of the woman's unborn child
13is 20 weeks or more, that the woman's unborn child has the physical structures
14necessary to experience pain; that there is evidence that by 20 weeks' gestation
15unborn children seek to evade certain stimuli in a manner that in an infant or an
16adult would be interpreted to be a response to pain; and that there is evidence that
17the abortion methods most commonly used when an unborn child is at 20 weeks'
18gestation or older, whether by dismemberment, poisoning, penetrating the skull, or
19crushing the skull, cause substantial pain to the unborn child.
SB138, s. 3 20Section 3. 253.10 (3) (d) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:
SB138,5,921 253.10 (3) (d) 2. Materials, including photographs, pictures or drawings, that
22are designed to inform the woman of the probable anatomical and physiological
23characteristics of the unborn child at 2-week gestational increments for the first 16
24weeks of her pregnancy and at 4-week gestational increments from the 17th week
25of the pregnancy to full term, including any relevant information regarding the time

1at which the unborn child could possibly be viable. The pictures or drawings must
2contain the dimensions of the unborn child and must be realistic and appropriate for
3the stage of pregnancy depicted. The materials shall be objective, nonjudgmental
4and designed to convey only accurate scientific information about the unborn child
5at the various gestational ages, including appearance, mobility, brain and heart
6activity and function, tactile sensitivity, the physical structures necessary to
7experience pain,
and the presence of internal organs and external members. The
8materials shall also contain objective, accurate information describing the methods
9of abortion procedures commonly employed, the medical and psychological risks
10commonly associated with each such procedure, including the risks of infection,
11psychological trauma, hemorrhage, endometritis, perforated uterus, incomplete
12abortion, failed abortion, danger to subsequent pregnancies and infertility, and the
13medical risks commonly associated with carrying a child to birth. The materials
14shall contain the following statement: "By 20 weeks' gestation, an unborn child has
15the physical structures necessary to experience pain. There is substantial evidence
16that by 20 weeks' gestation unborn children seek to evade certain stimuli in a
17manner that in an infant or an adult would be interpreted to be a response to pain.
18Anesthesia is routinely administered to unborn children who are 20 weeks'
19gestational age or older who undergo prenatal surgery. There is evidence that the
20abortion methods most commonly used when an unborn child is at 20 weeks'
21gestation or older, whether by dismemberment, poisoning, penetrating the skull, or
22crushing the skull, cause substantial pain to the unborn child. For example, the
23dilation and evacuation method of abortion is commonly performed in the 2nd
24trimester of pregnancy. In a dilation and evacuation abortion, the unborn child's
25body parts are grasped at random with a long-toothed clamp. The fetal body parts

1are then torn off the body and pulled out of the vaginal canal. The remaining body
2parts are grasped and pulled out until only the head remains. The head is then
3grasped and crushed in order to remove it from the vaginal canal. Another example
4is the partial-birth abortion method, or dilation and extraction, which is usually
5performed in the 2nd trimester of pregnancy. In a partial-birth abortion, the
6physician performing the abortion delivers the unborn child's body until only the
7head remains inside the womb. The physician then punctures the back of the unborn
8child's skull with a sharp instrument and sucks out the unborn child's brains before
9completing the delivery of the dead infant."
SB138, s. 4 10Section 4. 253.10 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB138,5,1411 253.10 (4) Hotline and Internet access. The department may maintain a
12toll-free telephone number that is available 24 hours each day or maintain access
13to an Internet Web page on the department's Web site, or both
, to provide the
14materials specified in sub. (3) (d) 1.
SB138, s. 5 15Section 5. Nonstatutory provisions.
SB138,5,2116 (1) Revision, publication, and distribution of printed information. By the
17date that is 60 days after publication of this act, the department of health and family
18services shall revise the materials specified under section 253.10 (3) (d) of the
19statutes in accordance with section 253.10 (3) (d) 2. of the statutes, as affected by this
20act, publish the revised materials, and distribute the revised materials to county
21departments, as required under section 253.10 (3) (d) (intro.) of the statutes.
SB138,5,2522 (2) Notification to physicians. By the date that is 60 days after publication
23of this act, the department of health and family services shall notify physicians
24specified under section 253.10 (3) (e) of the statutes of the availability of the revised
25materials specified in subsection (1 ).
SB138,6,2
1(3) Replacement of printed information. By the date that is 65 days after
2publication of this act, all of the following shall take place:
SB138,6,53 (a) A physician specified under section 46.245 of the statutes shall replace any
4materials specified under section 253.10 (3) (d) of the statutes in his or her possession
5with the revised materials specified in subsection (1 ).
SB138,6,96 (b) County departments, as specified in section 253.10 (3) (d) of the statutes,
7shall replace any materials specified in section 253.10 (3) (d) of the statutes, as
8affected by this act, with the revised materials distributed by the department of
9health and family services under subsection (1 ).
SB138,6,1010 (End)
Loading...
Loading...