Madison — In a raucous clash on the state Senate floor Wednesday that recalled the bitter divides of 2011, Republicans abruptly cut off debate and forced a vote mandating that women seeking abortions get ultrasounds.
The morning's brief floor session included sharp exchanges and one senator claiming abortions "became the thing to do" in the 1960s.
Democrats protested the bill's merits and the process by which it was passed, saying Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau and his fellow Republicans were trampling on democracy by ending debate after about 20 minutes.
"My first advice to the majority leader is that he seeks psychological help," Sen. Bob Jauch (D-Poplar) said at a news conference after the vote.
Fitzgerald laughed off that comment and compared Democrats' reaction on Wednesday to their decision in 2011 to leave the state for three weeks in a failed attempt to stop legislation all but ending collective bargaining for most public workers.
"Here we go again," Fitzgerald said. He described Democrats' approach as, "We don't like what's happening from a public policy perspective, so we're not going to play by the rules."
The abortion measure passed 17-15, with all Republicans for it and all Democrats against it. Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) was absent.
It now goes to the Assembly, which is expected to take it up Thursday. GOP Gov. Scott Walker has said he would sign the bill.
In addition to requiring ultrasounds for women, the bill requires physicians performing abortions to have admitting privileges within 30 miles of the clinics where they work. That provision would shut down Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin's Appleton clinic, according to opponents, leaving just three abortion clinics in the state.
Republican senators preliminarily approved the bill Tuesday after two and a half hours of debate, but Democrats blocked a final vote on the measure that day. They reconvened at 8 a.m. Wednesday and after about 20 minutes of debate Fitzgerald called an immediate end to debate.
Democrats loudly protested and Senate President Mike Ellis (R-Neenah) repeatedly pounded his gavel to quiet them, reminding them that motions to end consideration of a bill are not debatable.
The shouts from both sides were reminiscent of the 2011-'12 legislative session, when even routine debates turned into battles because of the bitter divide over collective bargaining.
Tuesday's vote comes a little over a week before the Senate takes up the state budget, and senators from both sides said that debate could now turn tumultuous.
Afterward, Democrats held a news conference in the Senate parlor that lasted longer than the floor debate.
"It does set a dangerous precedent," Sen. Julie Lassa (D-Stevens Point). "It is truly, truly an absolute power grab where they will shut down the voices of the minority party just because they don't want to hear the truth."
Ellis and Fitzgerald said that sentiment was ridiculous.
"It's not like we didn't debate this bill all day yesterday," Ellis said.
He said both sides had agreed to the rules of floor debate and needed to abide by them.
"I wish we didn't have this kind of trouble," he said. "They triggered this. I am a nice guy."
Fitzgerald said he had offered Democrats a deal to let them talk about the bill for about half an hour. He said he wanted the Senate to adjourn by 9 a.m. because committees were scheduled to meet then. Senate Minority Leader Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) said he rejected Fitzgerald's offer because it was inadequate.
Before debate was cut off, Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin), the bill's author, said the measure would ensure women had as much information as possible before making an abortion decision that couldn't be reversed.
"If you have a loved one who's thinking about terminating their pregnancy, for crying out loud you want them to have full information," she said.
She also claimed a "majority of women who regret" their abortions and said they had become common because of cultural shifts in the 1960s.
"It became popular in the '60s," she said. "It became the thing to do. You know, you almost had to get one to be a woman."
Democrats denounced those comments, with Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) calling them "delusional."
"This is not something that women brag about," said Sen. Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse). "It is a deeply personal issue between a women and her doctor and a woman and her faith."
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 approved 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 similar to ones that have been adopted in other states in recent years. 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.
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