Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has signed a new law banning abortions midway through pregnancy, one week after kicking off his presidential campaign.

The new law makes Wisconsin the 14th state to ban abortions starting at 20 weeks of pregnancy, according to the Guttmacher Institute, although courts have blocked the laws in a few of those states.

Unlike many of the other 20-week bans — dubbed "fetal pain" laws because they're premised on the idea that a fetus can feel pain beyond that point in pregnancy — Wisconsin's law includes exemptions only if the mother's life is at stake or if she's likely to suffer irreversible injuries within 24 hours. Many other fetal pain laws also include exemptions for rape or incest.

Under the new law, doctors who perform an abortion at or after 20 weeks in nonemergency situations could be charged with a felony and punished with up to $10,000 in fines or three and a half years in prison.

The Republican-led Wisconsin legislature passed the ban in a party line vote. Democrats likely will try to turn Walker's support of the law against him in the presidential election, and they started on Monday, saying it shows he "lacks respect for half the population of Wisconsin."

"This legislation is nothing more than a timely favor that will rally the GOP base just days after Scott Walker's presidential campaign kickoff," said Kaylie Hanson, the Democratic National Committee's director of Women's Media. "Once again, Scott Walker has placed his own backward ideology above the best interests of the people in his state."

But Walker's moved earned him praise from anti-abortion groups, who have achieved marked success over the last few years in getting more than a dozen similar bans passed around the country.

"Governor Walker has consistently stood up to defend the unborn and their mothers," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List. "We thank him for following through on his commitment sign this human-centered legislation."

While polls show that the public favors 20-week bans by a small majority, abortions that late into pregnancy are rare, comprising about 1 percent of all abortions performed.

The House passed a federal version of the legislation earlier this year, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised a vote sometime this fall.