Wisconsin Senate Leader says Walker specifically wanted no exceptions in 20-week abortion ban

A Wisconsin Republican leader has indicated that Governor Scott Walker may strengthing his views on abortion, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports.

In remarks first made to the New York Times and confirmed for the Journal-Sentinel by a spokesman, state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said that in a meeting earlier this year Walker specifically asked that rape and incest exceptions not be included in a bill to ban abortions past 20 weeks, which passed the Senate 19-14 on June 9.

However, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos—who has not decided whether to amend the bill to include the exceptions, or whether his chamber will take it up this summer or postpone it until the fall—says he does not recall Walker explicitly opposing the exceptions, simply that he would be willing to sign the legislation without them: “I think it’s fair to say that he did not have to have exceptions for rape and incest.”

As Live Action News has previously covered, Walker publicly said on June 1 that he would be willing to sign either version of the 20-week abortion ban: “It’s an unborn life, it’s an unborn child, and that’s why we feel strongly about it.” He has not public urged the Legislature to add or remove exceptions, but argued that for most victims of rape and incest, abortion would only be a concern “in the initial months” of pregnancy.

Walker formed a “testing the waters” committee earlier in June to raise money for a likely 2016 presidential campaign, but has not yet formally announced that he will seek the Republican nomination.