Gov. Scott Walker supports a 20-week abortion ban.
After staying mum on the issue during his re-election campaign last year, the potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate moved Tuesday to specifically embrace banning abortion after 20 weeks.
A letter from the Wisconsin governor, on a “Friends of Scott Walker” letterhead, was released by the Susan B. Anthony List, a pro-life organization.
“As the Wisconsin legislature moves forward in the coming session, further protections for mother and child are likely to come to my desk in the form of a bill to prohibit abortions after 20 weeks,” his letter said.”I will sign that bill when it gets to my desk and support similar legislation on the federal level. I was raised to believe in the sanctity of life and I will always fight to protect it.”
Walker’s letter comes after conservatives criticized his Sunday interview on Fox News. When asked if he would change the the law on abortion he responded, “Well, that’s not a change you can make. The Supreme Court ultimately made that.”
Frank Cannon, president of American Principles in Action, called the Sunday interview “the very worst interview on the life issue I have seen from a Republican in recent memory.”
“Claiming you are impotent to act on your core principles is neither true nor wise. What about advocating for a ban on abortions after 20 weeks? That’s a law that has already been passed in 12 states, which the Republican National Committee endorses, and which most of Walker’s fellow Republican presidential candidates also support, Jeb Bush included,” Cannon said.
“This gaffe is making me wonder whether Walker is ready for prime time,” Cannon concluded.
According to a RealClearPolitics average of polls, Walker is still in the lead of the crowded 2016 presidential nomination field, with 15 points. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is on his heels with 14.7 percentage points.
