Women’s Health Expert Says New GOP Abortion Ban Could Force Women to Undergo Cesarean Sections

MADISON, Wis. — In a recent radio interview nationally recognized women’s reproductive health expert, Dr. Douglas Laube, said the new abortion ban proposed by legislative Republicans and supported by Gov. Scott Walker (Assembly Bill 237/Senate Bill 179) could force a woman terminating a pregnancy to save her life to undergo an invasive cesarean section (c-section) surgery that dramatically increases the chance of injury to or death of the mother.

One Wisconsin Now Research Director and attorney Jenni Dye commented, “This bill puts politicians, not doctors, where they have no business — making life and death decisions for the women of Wisconsin. This proposal is so extreme and invasive that it includes a provision for government mandated c-section.”

Responding to questions about the impact of the bill on the ability of doctors to make the best decisions for their patients, former president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Dr. Laube said, “…what it actually means in certain cases is that cesarean section — which really is a concept applicable much later in pregnancy — a cesarean delivery would need to be done…”

Dr. Laube went on to say that the government mandating a woman to undergo a c-section, “Becomes a matter of patient safety as it pertains to her morbidity and her mortality,” increasing the chances of serious injury to or death of the mother by five to eight times.

In addition to potentially forcing women to undergo a c-section, the GOP’s abortion ban makes no exception for rape or incest. An earlier news report quoted the Assembly author of the bill Rep. Jesse Kremer as saying he opposed such, “carve outs”.

The bills are on the legislative fast track with a public hearing schedule in the Senate and Assembly for Tuesday June 2 and are being pushed for approval by the full legislature in the midst of state budget deliberations.

Dye concluded, “Medical decisions like this need to be made by women in consultation with their doctor and their family, not dictated by a politician in Madison. But this bill doesn’t just interfere with Wisconsin women’s health care decisions, it endangers their lives.”