HISTORY ON ABORTION

In response to a far-reaching anti-abortion bill passed by the Wisconsin state legislature, doctors in Wisconsin stopped providing abortion services in May 1998 and most women were forced to cross state lines to access legal abortion. After the first week, some doctors and clinics were able to make private "deals" with local District attorneys, but are nonetheless taking considerable risk. The law, designated as a "partial birth" abortion ban, is so broadly worded that doctors risk life imprisonment for the most common abortion procedures -- even in the first trimester!
What law was passed?
The Wisconsin law declares that a fetus is a human being from the time of conception, and described abortion as a procedure meant to "kill a child". The vague wording of the law could be applied to most abortion procedures. There is no exception for the health of the woman. The exception to save the woman's life requires that "there is no other medical procedure that would suffice for that purpose". Even if an abortion was the best medical choice to save a woman's life, a doctor could not choose it if there was any alternative, even a less effective one. The law is called the "1997 Wisconsin Act 219".
What is the current status of that law?
The law is being enforced in Wisconsin. When the bill was signed into law by Governor Tommy Thompson, abortion providers filed an emergency brief asking the courts to issue a temporary restraining order, which would block enforcement of the law while its constitutionality was being challenged.
The first judge to rule on a temporary restraining order allowed the law to remain in effect. U.S. District Judge John C. Shabazz wrote that fetuses would be "unnecessarily killed" if the anti-abortion law was not enforced.
After the district judge ruled, abortion providers appealed to the federal circuit court and asked for a temporary restraining order. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit also rejected a restraining order. The court ruled that the plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate that the statute would cause the kind of irreparable harm required for a restraining order.
The constitutionality of the law will be tested in a Federal trial scheduled to begin June 10. Judge Shabazz will preside.
How does this law ban all abortions?
The Center for Reproductive Law & Policy filed the emergency motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. They concluded that Wisconsin abortion providers would face life imprisonment for all common abortion procedures. Their motion argued:
"There is no mention of viability, trimester, gestation or stage of pregnancy in the Wisconsin law. Federal and state courts have consistently found that these bills do not define any specific type of procedure, nor do they discuss stage of pregnancy -- gestation, trimesters or viability. Designed to drive physicians away from providing services, these vaguely worded bills are criminal statutes with severe penalties".
Courts have blocked similar abortion bans in other states. In regard to a similar law passed in Arkansas, the court said "the act applies at any stage of gestation"..."it prohibits the safest and most common abortion procedures"..."doctors will most likely stop performing abortions".
Who can sue a doctor for performing abortions?
The woman receiving the abortion, the parent or parents of a minor, the "father of the aborted child".

What could happen to doctors who are found guilty?
damages for personal injury and emotional and psychological distress;
exemplary (punitive) damages equal to 3 times the cost of the abortion;
felony conviction resulting in life in prison without the possibility of parole.