Green Bay Reporter

Rep. Jim Steineke is praising the Wisconsin State Senate's passage of “born alive” legislation that would protect babies who are born alive after attempted abortions.

"It is great to see the Wisconsin State Senate stand with life and pass the Born Alive Survivor’s bill authored by @SenatorRoth and I," Steineke tweeted. "This bill is a commonsense reform that requires doctors to provide life-saving measures to a baby if it is born alive during an abortion.”

The legislation passed the Senate 19-12, backed by Republicans but opposed by Democrats, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.

A similar bill passed the legislature last year but was vetoed by Gov. Tony Evers, who has vetoed several Republican abortion bills since taking office, the story said. This year's bill will likely meet a similar fate, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.

Under the legislation, health care workers during an attempted abortion are required to give immediate medical care if a baby breathes, has a beating heart or shows movement of voluntary muscles, the story said. Providers who intentionally cause death could face a life sentence in prison but the mother could not be charged.

It's rare for babies to be born alive after an attempted abortion, Wisconsin Public Radio said. It cited statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that between 2003 and 2014, 143 infants died after being born alive during an attempted abortion. In 2010 alone, there were 765,000 abortions in the U.S., the story said.