Wisconsin Planned Parenthood Halts Medication Abortions While Bans March Through States

Planned Parenthood announced last week that it would stop dispensing abortion pills at all of its Wisconsin locations after Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill into law banning the dangerous drugs without the presence of a license physician. This law virtually bans the practice of telemed, or webcam abortions. Medication abortions account for about 25% of all abortions in Wisconsin.

Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue, said, “This has been a textbook example of how activism encourages legislation. Once we discovered the webcam abortions in Iowa, we worked with other organizations to create legislation. That legislation has been picked up by other groups and guided through the legislative process. The result is positive change and increased protections for women that will result in fewer abortions.”

Since then several states have worked to prevent the expansion of the dangerous abortion process. Wisconsin joins Arizona, Nebraska, Kansas, and South Dakota in banning webcam abortions. North Dakota and Oklahoma have also passed webcam bans that are currently in the process of litigation. Elsewhere, a ban on webcam abortions passed its final hurdle in the Minnesota Legislature last Wednesday, and now heads to the desk of Gov. Mark Dayton, a pro-abortion Democrat. It is unknown whether he intends to sign the bill or exercise his veto.