Wisconsin GOP is so confident in its 49th place job creation that they've moved on to other things like abortion.
Madison Amid tumult on the state Senate floor, Republicans cut off debate and approved a bill Wednesday requiring women seeking abortions to get ultrasounds.
Democrats protested the bill's merits and the process by which it was passed. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) cut off debate after half an hour Wednesday and Democrats howled in protest. The bill had been debated for hours Tuesday, but Democrats managed to block a final vote on it that day.
The measure passed 17-15, with all Republicans for it and all Democrats against it. Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) was absent.
The bill also requires physicians performing abortions to have admitting privileges within 30 miles of the clinics where they work. That provision would shut down one of the state's four abortion clinics, according to opponents. Closing Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin's Appleton clinic would mean Milwaukee and Madison would be the only cities in the state where abortions were available.
Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) introduced the bill last week, on June 4. It is expected to pass the Senate on Wednesday and could be taken up by the Assembly as early as Thursday.
GOP Gov. Scott Walker has said he would sign the bill.
Republicans who control the Senate gave preliminary approval to the measure on Tuesday, but Democrats blocked a final vote.
Lazich said the bill would ensure patient safety and reduce the number of abortions by giving women more information. Democrats argued the bill is meant to bully and intimidate women.
Republicans are also seeking other changes to Wisconsin's abortion laws. On Thursday, the Assembly is to take up bills to ban use of taxpayer money to cover abortions in public employees' health insurance plans and outlaw abortions meant to choose the sex of a fetus.
The bill the Senate is considering would mandate that a physician or ultrasound technician display the ultrasound's images and describe to the patient the heartbeat and physical description of the fetus. The woman would not be required to look at the ultrasound's images.
The bill includes exceptions from having to get ultrasounds in cases of rape, incest and imminent medical emergencies.
Cases of rape and incest must be reported to the police for those exceptions. About half of rapes are reported, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.
The bill would also require doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic.
Planned Parenthood announced Monday it would have to close its Appleton clinic if the measure were to become law because no one at that clinic has admitting privileges. Applying for admitting privileges for doctors in Appleton could take months and likely wouldn't happen before the bill takes effect, according to Nicole Safar, the group's policy director.
Planned Parenthood also operates clinics that offer abortions in Madison and Milwaukee. Affiliated Medical Services also operates a clinic that provides abortions in Milwaukee, and doctors at that facility have admitting privileges.
The proposal is part of a national trend. If it's signed into law, Wisconsin would become the ninth state to require women seeking abortions to get ultrasounds and the eighth state to mandate hospital admitting privileges for doctors performing abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive research group that supports abortion rights.
Admitting privilege requirements have threatened to shutter abortion clinics in other states, such as Mississippi.
In September, the clinic applied to about seven nearby hospitals but was rejected by all of them. It has managed to stay open, at least for now, because its challenging the law in court.