Abortion 'Reversal' Bill Introduced In Wisconsin

MADISON, WI — Wisconsin legislators are seeking a vote on an abortion reversal bill in the coming days. Supporters of the bill say it gives women the chance to have a change of heart, while critics of the bill say the proposed changes are medically unsound.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) is the Assembly lead author of the pro-life legislation, called A Woman's Right To Know Act. Similar bills have faced controversy in other state legislatures including in Nebraska and Kansas earlier this year.

Under the bill, a physician would be required to inform a woman who is planning an abortion via a drug regimen that includes mifepristone, also known as RU-486, that she can still change her mind after taking the first pill. If she changes her mind, the bill states that she should contact a physician "as soon as possible" because "time is of the essence" so the physician can assist in counteracting the effects of the drug.

“Information is power and this bill empowers women as they make an important decision,” Vos said in a prepared statement. “The bill also gives a baby a second chance if the mother is having second thoughts about an abortion.”

Critics of the bill, like Heather Huber of the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Organization for Women, say that the Woman's Right To Know Act is another attack on womens' reproductive rights.

"Part of this bill is requiring doctors to provide medically inaccurate information, inconsistent with what the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say on the subject," Huber said. "Providing medically inaccurate information undermines patient trust in their provider."

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says that abortion reversal treatments - particularly those that involve additional dosing of progesterone to counteract the first abortion pill in order to rescue the pregnancy - are unsafe, not scientifically based, and do not meet clinical standards.

"Politicians are pushing legislation to require physicians to recite a script that a medication abortion can be 'reversed' with doses of progesterone, and to steer women to this care. Unfounded legislative mandates represent dangerous political interference and compromise patient care and safety," the 2017 report stated.

The report cited a 2012 study that showed the administration of progesterone following the first abortion pill resulted in the continuation of four of the six pregnancies in the study.

In an NPR report, Mitchell Creinin an OB-GYN who has spent most of his career conducting family planning research, said promoting this kind of treatment "can be potentially harmful by giving pregnant women misleading information that an abortion can be undone."