It seems like every day a new state is added to the list of those limiting abortion access and having representatives who make ignorant—and for a lack of a better word, disgusting—comments about abortion. Days after Missouri state Rep. Brian Seitz not only advocated for prison time for those in favor of abortion but also casually mentioned the death penalty, another GOP lawmaker has expressed his extreme views.
“It’s not our place to mess with the Lord’s will; I don’t care how the conception occurred,” Wisconsin state Rep. Timothy Ramthun said, in audio obtained by Heartland Signal. Like many other GOP officials, Ramthun was advocating for no exceptions, including those commonly retained for rape or incest, to be made in the case of abortion.
But rape and incest have never been exceptions in Wisconsin’s history of anti-abortion laws. At this time, the only exceptions to the ban are when an abortion would protect a pregnant person's life or prevent irreversible physical problems from the pregnancy. Ramthun is against these exceptions as well, as he claims one cannot interfere with God’s will.
According to Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR), Wisconsin's heartbeat bill is a Texas-style abortion bill that received approval from state legislators within two weeks of being introduced.
Similar to the Texas bill, the Wisconsin bill focuses on banning abortion after six weeks. Researchers have noted that most pregnancies are not even detected before six weeks; as a result, these women would be prevented from getting an abortion after confirming their pregnancy.
"I think it's important for policymakers to know there may be essentially no time between when a person discovers they are pregnant, the missed period, and fetal cardiac activity," Jenna Nobles, professor of sociology at the UW-Madison said, according to WPR. "It's particularly true for people with unpredictable cycles, which is more common in young people, Hispanic people, and people with common medical conditions.”
Prior to the new bill introduced in February, Wisconsin banned abortion after 20 weeks with restrictions on the procedure, including a 24-hour waiting period, and a requirement that the pregnant person undergo an ultrasound. The old law also did not have an exception for rape or incest.
Ramthun’s comments follow his announcement to run November's gubernatorial race, for which abortion has become a main talking point.
But Ramthun isn’t the first GOP lawmaker who has made such comments about exceptions to abortion, of course. In Tennessee, Rep. Rebecca Alexander noted that the state’s abortion ban would allow even rapists to sue victims of rape who proceeded with abortions—meaning those who commit crimes have the ability to dictate how their victims live. Talk about a lack of survivor rights.
The move in Republican-majority states to pass abortion bans modeled on Texas’ so-called abortion bounty law follows the passing of one such law in Mississippi, which is currently making its way to the Supreme Court. The law has the ability to limit abortion rights across the country by overturning Roe v. Wade.
