For the second consecutive year, the Wyoming Legislature has sent Governor Mark Gordon a bill that mandates that "medically appropriate and reasonable steps'' be taken to save the life of an infant that survives an abortion.

You can read Senate File 34 here. The bill passed the Wyoming House last week on a 48-11 vote after having been approved in the state senate earlier this session on a 26-4 vote.

Governor Gordon last year vetoed the same bill. In vetoing the bill last year, the governor issued this statement:

“Laws already in place protect children from being denied life-saving care simply because they were born as a result of an abortion. This bill will not do anything to improve on those laws which already exist. Instead, this bill will harm people it never intended to harm - parents who want a child, but have received the devastating news that their pregnancy is not viable. The State should not seek to make that moment for parents any more tragic than it already is. For this reason, I am vetoing this bill.”

But supporters of the Born Alive bill argue that it is important to prevent laws such as those on the books in Virginia and New York that allow abortions through an entire pregnancy. They also say the bill sends an important message about the sanctity of life.

Here is how the House voted on the bill on Friday, April 2:


Ayes: ANDREW, BAKER, BEAR, BLACKBURN, BROWN, BURKHART, BURT, CLAUSEN, CRAGO, DUNCAN, EKLUND, EYRE, FLITNER, FORTNER, GRAY, GREEAR, HALLINAN, HAROLDSON, HARSHMAN, HEINER, HENDERSON, JENNINGS, KINNER, BARLOW, KNAPP, LARSEN, L, LAURSEN, D, MACGUIRE, MARTINEZ, NEWSOME, OAKLEY, OBERMUELLER, O'HEARN, OLSEN, OTTMAN, PAXTON, SIMPSON, SOMMERS, STITH, STYVAR, WALTERS, WASHUT, WESTERN, WHARFF, WILLIAMS, WILSON, WINTER, ZWONITZER
Nays: BANKS, CLIFFORD, CONNOLLY, HUNT, NICHOLAS, PROVENZA, ROSCOE, SCHWARTZ, SHERWOOD, SWEENEY, YIN
Excused: NEIMAN

LOOK: Historical Wyoming License Plates Since 1914

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