Wisconsin Senate passes bill allowing abortions after 21 weeks

The Wisconsin legislature on Tuesday approved a bill allowing abortion after 21 months, in line with a similar measure that was signed into law by President Donald Trump in January.
The bill would allow abortion doctors to offer abortions at 21 weeks and up to 24 weeks, if there is a risk to the mother.
It would not allow abortions after 24 weeks unless there is evidence of fetal abnormalities.
It was the latest development in a national debate over whether to legalize abortion after a fetus is viable, or at least has a 50 percent chance of surviving beyond that point.
Republican Gov.
Scott Walker said at the time that his bill was meant to protect women from having abortions.
Republican and Democratic senators also supported the bill, which had been passed in March by the House.
Democrats had argued that the 21-week window would make abortion harder and more expensive for women, and could lead to higher abortion rates.
Republican Rep. John Schmitz, one of the bill’s sponsors, told the Associated Press that it was not a matter of morality but of science.
“It’s science,” Schmitzz said.
“It’s really what the science tells us that this is the best way to save the life of the mother.”
But abortion rights advocates say the 21 month window is not an appropriate cutoff point for a fetus to be considered viable, and that some women should be allowed to end their pregnancies after that point even if the fetus has some abnormality.
Opponents of the law, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have been fighting for months to pass a bill that would change the law so that women are not allowed to have abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
The ACLU said the Wisconsin bill was a step in the right direction but that it would still need to be approved by the state legislature before it can take effect.