Republicans Reject Evers' Abortion Referendum Proposal

WISCONSIN — State legislative Republicans swiftly rejected Gov. Tony Evers' bid to send a referendum on abortion to Wisconsin residents during a special session Tuesday.

Evers, a Democrat, announced plans for the session in September. The proposal would have laid the groundwork for a statewide process where Wisconsin residents can file petitions for referendums to introduce and repeal laws. Although Evers' announced the plans in an effort to change Wisconsin's abortion laws, the proposal could have also opened the door for other citizen ballot initiatives.

The changes — which would have required amending Wisconsin's constitution —seemed unlikely when Evers announced the idea. Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, both Republicans, issued a joint statement in September where they called Evers' plan a "desperate political stunt."

When it came to the session, Senate President Chris Kapenga gaveled in and out of a mostly empty room Tuesday morning in just seconds. About an hour later Republicans quickly opened and closed the Assembly session despite complaints from Democrats, according to the WPR report.

Evers called the legislature's inaction on Tuesday "an outrage" via Twitter.

"I called the Legislature into special session today to protect reproductive freedom by creating a pathway for Wisconsinites to repeal our state's criminal abortion ban, which has no exceptions for rape and incest," Evers wrote. "Republicans rejected our plan in seconds."

The Associated Press contributed to this article.