2005 - 2006 LEGISLATURE
ASSEMBLY SUBSTITUTE AMENDMENT 1,
TO 2005 ASSEMBLY BILL 321
October 25, 2005 - Offered by Committee on Health.
AB321-ASA1,1,3 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 substitute amendment 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 substitute amendment 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 substitute
amendment, concerning pain experienced by unborn children of 20 weeks' or more
gestation who are aborted.
Lastly, the substitute amendment 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 substitute amendment.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB321-ASA1, s. 1 1Section 1. 253.10 (1) (a) 4m. of the statutes is created to read:
AB321-ASA1,2,92 253.10 (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 cause
9substantial pain to the unborn child.
AB321-ASA1, s. 2 10Section 2. 253.10 (3) (c) 1. dm. of the statutes is created to read:
AB321-ASA1,3,511 253.10 (3) (c) 1. dm. If the probable gestational age of the woman's unborn child
12is 20 weeks or more, that the woman's unborn child has the physical structures

1necessary to experience pain; that there is evidence that by 20 weeks' gestation
2unborn children seek to evade certain stimuli in a manner that in an infant or an
3adult would be interpreted to be a response to pain; and that there is evidence that
4the abortion methods most commonly used when an unborn child is at 20 weeks'
5gestation or older cause substantial pain to the unborn child.
AB321-ASA1, s. 3 6Section 3. 253.10 (3) (d) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:
AB321-ASA1,4,77 253.10 (3) (d) 2. Materials, including photographs, pictures or drawings, that
8are designed to inform the woman of the probable anatomical and physiological
9characteristics of the unborn child at 2-week gestational increments for the first 16
10weeks of her pregnancy and at 4-week gestational increments from the 17th week
11of the pregnancy to full term, including any relevant information regarding the time
12at which the unborn child could possibly be viable. The pictures or drawings must
13contain the dimensions of the unborn child and must be realistic and appropriate for
14the stage of pregnancy depicted. The materials shall be objective, nonjudgmental
15and designed to convey only accurate scientific information about the unborn child
16at the various gestational ages, including appearance, mobility, brain and heart
17activity and function, tactile sensitivity, the physical structures necessary to
18experience pain,
and the presence of internal organs and external members. The
19materials shall also contain objective, accurate information describing the methods
20of abortion procedures commonly employed, the medical and psychological risks
21commonly associated with each such procedure, including the risks of infection,
22psychological trauma, hemorrhage, endometritis, perforated uterus, incomplete
23abortion, failed abortion, danger to subsequent pregnancies and infertility, and the
24medical risks commonly associated with carrying a child to birth. The materials
25shall contain the following statement: "By 20 weeks' gestation, an unborn child has

1the physical structures necessary to experience pain. There is substantial evidence
2that by 20 weeks' gestation unborn children seek to evade certain stimuli in a
3manner that in an infant or an adult would be interpreted to be a response to pain.
4Anesthesia is routinely administered to unborn children who are 20 weeks'
5gestational age or older who undergo prenatal surgery. There is evidence that the
6abortion methods most commonly used when an unborn child is at 20 weeks'
7gestation or older cause substantial pain to the unborn child."
AB321-ASA1, s. 4 8Section 4. 253.10 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB321-ASA1,4,129 253.10 (4) Hotline and Internet access. The department may maintain a
10toll-free telephone number that is available 24 hours each day or maintain access
11to an Internet Web page on the department's Web site, or both
, to provide the
12materials specified in sub. (3) (d) 1.
AB321-ASA1, s. 5 13Section 5. Nonstatutory provisions.
AB321-ASA1,4,2014 (1) Revision, publication, and distribution of printed information. By the
15date that is 60 days after publication of this act, the department of health and family
16services shall revise the materials specified under section 253.10 (3) (d) of the
17statutes in accordance with section 253.10 (3) (c) 1. dm. and (d) 2. of the statutes, as
18affected by this act, publish the revised materials, and distribute the revised
19materials to county departments, as required under section 253.10 (3) (d) (intro.) of
20the statutes.
AB321-ASA1,4,2421 (2) Notification to physicians. By the date that is 60 days after publication
22of this act, the department of health and family services shall notify physicians
23specified under section 253.10 (3) (e) of the statutes of the availability of the revised
24materials specified in subsection (1 ).
AB321-ASA1,5,2
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:
AB321-ASA1,5,53 (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 ).
AB321-ASA1,5,96 (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 ).
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