Abortion Debate Could Affect Race for Wisconsin Governor
Source: Janesville Gazette By: Associate Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) – After eight years under a Democratic governor who has championed abortion rights, opponents are rallying around two Republican candidates who oppose the procedure in all circumstances. The state’s biggest and most powerful anti-abortion rights group, Wisconsin Right to Life, endorsed Scott Walker and Mark Neumann this month, saying both “have a deep and abiding respect for the value of human life.” Both also have been endorsed by a smaller, more hard-line group, Pro-Life Wisconsin, which opposes abortion for any reason as well as all forms of birth control. It is the first time in recent memory a Republican candidate for governor has won the group’s endorsement, which Mark Green did not seek in 2006 despite having a strong anti-abortion record in Congress. Former Republican Govs. Tommy Thompson and Scott McCallum didn’t win its nod, either, a spokesman said. Walker and Neumann each scored a “100 percent” grade on the group’s survey, vowing to support a complete abortion ban without exception and to protect pharmacists who refuse to dispense birth control on religious grounds, said Matt Sande, director of its political action committee. “It’s incredible the energy that’s out there,” Sande said of the movement’s backing for Neumann and Walker, who face off in the September primary. Neumann said Friday he would enforce the state’s existing criminal abortion ban if Roe vs. Wade, the landmark decision that legalized abortion, is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Walker’s campaign said he also would, “uphold the law” in that scenario. Neumann and Walker both distanced themselves from the group’s anti-birth control stand. Meanwhile, the political arm of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin has endorsed the Democratic candidate, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who said at a recent forum that abortion should be safe, legal and rare. Planned Parenthood operates 24 family planning clinics that offer services like birth control and cancer screening and three clinics that provide abortions in Wisconsin.
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