Biased Counseling & Mandatory Delay
Wisconsin law subjects women seeking abortions to biased counseling requirements and mandatory delays. Summary Biased counseling and mandatory delay laws prohibit women from receiving abortion care until they are subjected to a state-mandated lecture and/or materials followed by a delay of usually at least 24 hours. A woman considering abortion, like any patient, should receive full and unbiased information from her doctor about her medical options. However, these laws not only represent unnecessary government intrusion into private decisions and the doctor-patient relationship, they often suggest that women be provided with medically inaccurate information, such as the disproven claim that abortion causes breast cancer. Mandatory delays create additional burdens for women, especially women in rural areas who have to travel for many hours to reach a health care provider, and for low-income women who must take additional time off work. Mandatory delay laws endanger women's health by impeding earlier, and therefore safer, abortion care. History of Abortion Restrictions
Since 1973, Roe v. Wade legalized abortion nationwide protecting women's right to choose to terminate a pregnancy. Yet, in 1992, in the case Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the Supreme court ruled that individual state governments could pass laws that restricted access to abortion within state boundaries. Abortions would still be legal, but states now had a significant say in the circumstances under which they could be provided. The court's ruling stated that restrictions must not impose an undue burden on women seeking abortions. Yet this clause was so vague that it allowed anti-choice legislation to slip by. Mandatory Delay and Biased Information Laws
One of the most common anti-choice strategies is to introduce measures that require women to wait a certain number of hours or days to have an abortion after she receives state-mandated information designed to discourage abortion. Under the guise of protecting women's health, these laws force a woman to delay the abortion procedure as long as 48 hours after receiving state-mandated information. This information is often unnecessary, misleading or medically inappropriate. Mandatory delay requirements serve no actual health purpose and are intended to discourage women from having an abortion. These restrictions create many problems for women, including increased expenses, travel difficulties and medical risks. Who Is Most Affected?
Unfortunately, rural, low-income, young women are the most affected by this anti-choice law. Because there are only four abortion providers in Wisconsin, women who do not live near one of the clinics are forced to travel long distances, or take time off from work in order to schedule an appointment. Most of these providers only operate a few days a week so it is often difficult to schedule an appointment. As a result, mandatory delays of 24-hours may mean that women may have to wait as long as 2 weeks to receive proper care. These delays can be especially detrimental for young women who may also have to take legal action to avoid parental involvement or low-income women who have difficulty raising money for the procedure. Health Risks
Due to the mandatory delay rule, women are forced to wait longer to receive abortion services. Although abortion is one of the safest medical practices today, risks of complications increase as the pregnancy progresses. Wisconsin's Requirements
Under Wisconsin's law, each abortion provider is required to provide state-approved information, including illustrations of the fetus at various stages of pregnancy, to every woman before her abortion procedure. According to Simon Heller, Director of Litigation for the Center for Reproductive Rights, "Wisconsin's mandatory delay requirement violates the constitutional rights of women and their doctors for the sake of advancing a political agenda. Forcing women to make a special trip to the doctor to listen to a script written by anti-choice legislators and other abortion opponents threatens women's health and undermines everyone's right to make medical decisions free from unwarranted government intrusion." Anti-Choice Response
Supporters of mandatory delay and biased information requirements argue that these laws can help women make more informed choices about abortion. Yet, these laws, along with anti-choice tactics such as falsely linking abortion to breast cancer, only do more harm to women. Instead of assisting women in their decision making, these laws scare and punish women for making a personal choice about their bodies and their futures.
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