Wisconsin Governor Says He Will Veto Bill Banning Infanticide

Wisconsin’s Democratic governor says he will veto a bill that would require medical care for babies who survive failed abortions.

The bill, AB 179, already passed the Republican-controlled Assembly and House. It would require abortion doctors to “exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health” of a baby who survives an abortion as would be given to “any other child born alive at the same gestational age,” according to the bill’s text. It also would require the baby to be “transported and admitted to a hospital.” The bill’s supporters say it simply would ban infanticide. 

The doctor, not the woman, would be charged with a crime. 

But Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers says he will veto it.

“I think those protections already exist,” Evers said Monday, according to the Journal Sentinel newspaper. “We have all sorts of issues to deal with in the state of Wisconsin and to pass a bill that is redundant seems to be not a productive use of time. And clearly I ran on the belief – and I still believe – that women should be able to make choices about their health care. But this deals with a specific issue that’s already been resolved.”

North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a similar bill last week. 

Wisconsin Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke said the bill is…