Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) followed through on his long-voiced promise and vetoed a slate of measures designed to restrict access to abortions.

“Everyone should have access to quality, affordable healthcare, and that includes reproductive healthcare,” Evers said in a statement on Friday. “Politicians shouldn’t be in the business of interfering with decisions made between patients and their healthcare providers.”

The move comes after the GOP-led Wisconsin Senate and State Assembly passed four measures that would further restrict abortions.

The measures included the so-called “born alive” legislation, which requires health care providers to give care to babies who survive abortion attempts. If it became law, the “born alive” bill would reportedly enforce criminal penalties on doctors who did not provide necessary medical care to babies who survived abortion attempts.

Both bodies passed three additional measures related to abortion, including one that bars a woman from having an abortion based on the  fetus’s race, sex or defects. They also voted to cut off Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood.

Wisconsin Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke (R) criticized Evers’s vetoes, saying in a statement that he was “incredibly saddened, though not surprised.”

Evers in May vowed to veto the abortion-related bills if they reached his desk.

“We shouldn’t be limiting the right for women to make their own healthcare decisions,” Evers said on Twitter at the time. “That’s why I’ll veto the bills passed by the Assembly last week if they arrive on my desk. It’s time to listen to women. ”

The governor has previously argued that the state’s existing protections and criminal penalties addressed issues related to babies surviving abortion attempts.

Source: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/449907-wisconsin-governor-vetoes-abortion-restrictions?fbclid=IwAR2UygY3jwNFxON-p0Fvlsqq4qiENVxMgnF-Cf6BR2kIxHx9Qukj7NZP_sA