Conservatively Speaking
State Senator Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) represents parts of four counties: Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, and Walworth. Her Senate District 28 includes New Berlin, Franklin, Greendale, Hales Corners, Muskego, Waterford, Big Bend, the town of Vernon and parts of Greenfield, East Troy, and Mukwonago. Senator Lazich has been in the Legislature for more than a decade. She considers herself a tireless crusader for lower taxes, reduced spending and smaller government.
Wisconsin must approve a ban on partial birth abortions
The state Assembly Judiciary and Ethics Committee held a public hearing this week on the Wisconsin Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, Assembly Bill 710. (AB 710). I am a co-sponsor of the legislation.Currently, there is a federal ban on this brutal procedure. A ban at the state level is needed so that state and local authorities could, like federal officials, prosecute violators.
The language of AB 710 is the same as the 2003 federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act that has been ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Brenda Pratt-Shafer, R.N., testified at the hearing about her first-hand experience assisting a doctor on a partial birth abortion. Her remarks were similar to testimony she gave before Congress in 1996. Here is the text of that testimony that is, as you might expect, quite graphic.
AB 710 has 53 co-sponsors in the state Assembly, enough votes for approval in that house. There are 16 co-sponsors in the state Senate, meaning that if the bill is scheduled for floor debate in the Senate, another vote is needed for passage.
Here is a copy of AB 710.
When President Bush signed the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 in November 2003, he said the following:
“For years, a terrible form of violence has been directed against children who are inches from birth, while the law looked the other way. Today, at last, the American people and our government have confronted the violence and come to the defense of the innocent child.
The best case against partial birth abortion is a simple description of what happens and to whom it happens. It involves the partial delivery of a live boy or girl, and a sudden, violent end of that life. Our nation owes its children a different and better welcome. The bill I am about to sign protecting innocent new life from this practice reflects the compassion and humanity of America.
In the course of the congressional debate, the facts became clear. Each year, thousands of partial birth abortions are committed. As Doctor C. Everett Koop, the pediatrician and former Surgeon General has pointed out, the majority of partial birth abortions are not required by medical emergency. As Congress has found, the practice is widely regarded within the medical profession as unnecessary, not only cruel to the child, but harmful to the mother, and a violation of medical ethics.
The facts about partial birth abortion are troubling and tragic, and no lawyer's brief can make them seem otherwise. By acting to prevent this practice, the elected branches of our government have affirmed a basic standard of humanity, the duty of the strong to protect the weak. The wide agreement amongst men and women on this issue, regardless of political party, shows that bitterness in political debate can be overcome by compassion and the power of conscience. And the executive branch will vigorously defend this law against any who would try to overturn it in the courts.
The late Pennsylvania Governor Robert Casey once said that: when we look to the unborn child, the real issue is not when life begins, but when love begins. This is the generous and merciful spirit of our country at its best. This spirit is reflected in the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003.”
Wisconsin needs to adopt a similar ban.
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