Midday Roundup: Wisconsin bans abortion after 20 weeks

Protecting the unborn. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is running for president, signed a bill Monday prohibiting abortions after 20 weeks of gestation. “When an unborn child can feel pain, I think most people feel that it’s appropriate to be able to protect that child,” Walker said. Under the new law, only abortions to save the life of the mother are allowed after 20 weeks. Abortion providers who violate the law are subject to fines and prison time. Congress is considering a similar bill after pro-life group Center for Medical Progress released a video showing a Planned Parenthood executive discussing prices for aborted body parts.

Morality hack? Hackers claim to have accessed the data of 37 million people who arranged extramarital affairs on the website Ashley Madison. Unless the company that runs the site takes it down, the hackers say they will start releasing names, photos, and illicit information given by account holders, Reuters reported. Ashley Madison promises anonymity to its members, but the hackers said in an online manifesto, “Too bad for those men, they’re cheating dirtbags and deserve no such discretion,” according to the blog Krebs on Security. As of this morning, AshleyMadison.com was still operational.

Suspicious death. A Texas prosecutor has ordered an extensive forensic analysis of the jail cell where a woman died of hanging July 13. A medical examiner ruled Sandra Bland committed suicide, but family and friends say they don’t believe the 28-year-old killed herself. Bland had traveled to Texas for a job interview at Prairie View A&M University. A state trooper pulled her over and arrested her after she became combative, Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis said. “This investigation is still being treated just as it would be in a murder investigation. There are many questions being raised in Waller County, across the country and the world about this case. It needs a thorough review,” Mathis said, adding, “It will go to a grand jury.”

How they did it. In interviews with fugitive David Sweat, police have learned how he and a partner escaped a maximum-security prison in New York with grueling persistence and a good deal of luck. Sweat, now in custody after a 22-day manhunt, said he cut holes in the walls of his cell and another inmate’s, Richard Matt, with a hacksaw as guards slept during the night. He and Matt explored the tunnels and pipes behind the walls of their cells and under the prison until they eventually found a way out. Matt died in a shootout with police. Police apprehended Sweat two days later. He is now in solitary confinement at Five Points Correctional Facility in Romulus, N.Y.

WORLD Radio’s Mary Reichard and The Associated Press contributed to this report.