On Nov. 8, after once again becoming the speaker of the Wisconsin state Assembly, Robin Vos suggested amending the state’s current abortion ban. While he wasn't specific because he hadn’t discussed the issue with his caucus yet, Vos claimed he believed in exceptions for rape and incest.
According to WPR, the overturn of Roe v. Wade reinstated Wisconsin’s 1849 ban on abortions, which includes no exceptions for rape or incest. Under the ban, abortions are only permitted to save the life of a mother.
"I believe in the exceptions for rape and incest," Vos said during a radio interview last week. "I think we need to make sure that the definition of life of the mother is as clear as it can be so, again, we don't have a court later on litigating what that is. I would like to make sure we all know exactly what the law is going forward."
But while he claimed he believed in exceptions and that the law should be changed to reflect that, he didn’t specify how he wanted the exceptions to be made until this week. Vos doesn’t want to just add exceptions for rape and incest to the abortion policy, he also wants survivors to provide a police report and prove they are victims of sexual assault or incest before they receive permission to obtain an abortion.