SW News: Pro-life advocates in the American state of Wisconsin have decried the passage of a bill in the State Assembly that would enable pharmacists to prescribe birth control pills without doctor's approval. The Republican-authored measure was passed on Wednesday with broad bipartisan support.
The bill now requires Senate approval before it could reach Governor Tony Evers, who supports it. Although the bill failed to make it to the Senate floor last session after passing the Assembly by a wide bipartisan margin, its sponsor Joel Kitchens said he was "optimistic" it would receive necessary support this time.
This is the first time the bill has been discussed since Wisconsin's 1849 abortion ban was reinstated due to last year's Roe v. Wade decision by the US Supreme Court.
Under the current law, most birth control pills are available to women only with a prescription from a physician or advanced practice nurse in Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, Republicans who support the legislation allowing chemists to prescribe and dispense hormonal contraceptive patches and popular birth control tablets claim it will help stop more unintended pregnancies. However, various pro-life organizations have expressed their opposition to the same.
Additionally, the lawmakers introduced a statute that would create rape and incest exception under the state's abortion ban.
Democratic Governor Evers has vowed to veto the bill that returns state law to how it was before the reversal of Roe v Wade.
Being a renowned abortion supporter Evers also supports a legal challenge to Wisconsin's abortion prohibition initiated by the state's attorney general. The state Supreme Court is anticipated to render its decision in August.