A bill that would mandate a 48-hour waiting period for performing abortions in Wyoming won initial approval in the Wyoming House of Representatives on Wednesday.

The bill faces two more House votes before and decisive vote that could send the measure on to the Wyoming Senate. House Bill 140 was approved on first reading by the House Committee of the Whole on a voice vote Wednesday afternoon.

Rep. Sara Burlingame [D-Laramie County] spoke against the bill in floor debate, saying the wording of the bill conflicts with existing state law and is unclear in some of its wording. She said the bill would meddle in the medical profession in "a way that we don't for other services."

But Rep. Roy Edwards [R-Campbell County], one of the bill's sponsors, argued the waiting period would be the last chance to avoid ''the death of the baby. The regrets of a woman, or a man, for the rest of their life."

More From Laramie Live