From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— The state Senate has signed off along party lines on legislation that would exempt medical procedures such as removing a dead embryo or fetus or treating an ectopic pregnancy from the definition of abortion in Wisconsin.
GOP Sen. Romaine Quinn, one of the co-authors, yesterday argued the bill was about clearing up ambiguity in state law so that women seeking life-saving treatment can get it. But Dem Sen. Kelda Roys insisted it was pure politics.
Roys, D-Madison, said Republicans have been “getting killed in elections” because of their stance on abortion and are now seeking to change the definition to shield them from the fallout of stories detailing women being denied care for a miscarriage, for example, due to a state’s abortion restrictions.
She argued changing the definition was just an effort to not “call it abortion when a woman needs an abortion.”
“Abortion is a necessary medical procedure that sometimes pregnant people need to save their lives, to preserve their health to preserve their future fertility, and nothing in this bill is going to change that,” said Roys, who’s running for guv.
Quinn, R-Birchwood, said he makes no bones about his position opposing abortion and believes that life begins at conception. Still, the co-author of SB 553 said those who oppose abortion have never been about criminalizing a woman seeking care in a situation like a miscarriage or an ectopic pregnancy.
“Intent matters,” Quinn said. “There will be a time and a place to continue the abortion debate. But that is not today.”
SB 553 includes a requirement that the physician make reasonable efforts to save the parent and fetus from harm when performing an exempted procedure.
Dem Gov. Tony Evers has vowed to veto the bill, which next heads to the GOP-run Assembly.
See more Senate action at the WisPolitics Quorum Call page.
— Wisconsin’s competitive edge in biotech is being threatened by “national headwinds” for the industry, according to a startup specialist at WEDC.
Shayna Hetzel, vice president of entrepreneurship and innovation at the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., spoke yesterday during a meeting of the agency’s board of directors. Representing the Wisconsin Investment Fund Committee, she discussed national and state trends in startup funding.
“Between uncertainty with research dollars and commercialization pathways, regulatory concerns, clinical trials and sort of those components that are outside of the state’s control, all of that is making national investors a little more hesitant to biotech,” she said.
For now, this environment isn’t influencing in-state funds’ portfolios, she said. But she added it could have an impact going forward.
“It’s just something for us to keep an eye on over the next few quarters, to see if these headwinds sort of dissipate, or if they start to get in the way of our high-growth startups,” she said.
See more coverage from the board meeting.
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