ST. PAUL (AP) - Three years after lawmakers approved a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions, a Republican senator who voted for the law is pushing to lift its requirements for women whose fetuses have rare fatal conditions.

Sen. Geoff Michel, R-Edina, said he's trying to walk a careful line on a politically volatile issue. The waiting period became law in 2003 after years of controversy. It requires doctors to discuss risks and other information with women at least 24 hours before an abortion.

But after hearing from obstetricians on both sides of the abortion divide, Michel says some of the provisions - such as giving women information about adoption and showing them images of healthy fetuses - are hurtful to families who have been told their fetus is dead or won't live.

"At a minimum it doesn't make sense. At a maximum it's quite insensitive," Michel said. "This is about a small group of families that are in real tough circumstances."

His bill would create an exception for women whose fetuses have an "anomaly incompatible with life."