Scott Walker’s Record on Religious Issues

It must be the final weeks of a gubernatorial campaign if Gov. Scott Walker is earnestly looking straight to camera saying he respects others’ beliefs. One Wisconsin Now Program Director Analiese Eicher noted that Walker’s words in this election cycle ring hollow when compared to his action and inaction on issues important to women, people of color, migrant families, students and sex assault survivors.

Shortly after President Trump announced his pick for Supreme Court, the liberal group One Wisconsin Now sent an email with the subject line: “Trump, Walker will criminalize abortion.”

“If he is not blocked, Brett Kavanaugh will be the deciding vote to overturn Roe v. Wade and do what Scott Walker has been trying to do for 25 years: criminalize women having abortions.”

Analiese Eicher of One Wisconsin Now predicts the abortion issue will be at the “forefront of the conversation” in the governor’s race. One reason for that, she says, is because of how “extreme” Wisconsin’s ban is, allowing almost no exceptions.

“This is something folks are going to be asking people point blank,” she says. “It’s not something you can be wishy-washy about. Either you are for the right to choose or not.”

“If he is not blocked, Brett Kavanaugh will be the deciding vote to overturn Roe v. Wade and do what Scott Walker has been trying to do for 25 years: criminalize women having abortions,” said Analiese Eicher of the liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now.

“If he is not blocked, Brett Kavanaugh will be the deciding vote to overturn Roe v. Wade and do what Scott Walker has been trying to do for 25 years: criminalize women having abortions,” said Analiese Eicher of the liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now.

One Wisconsin Now Program Director Analiese Eicher released the following statements about Donald Trump nominating Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

A media report suggests a right wing group provided Trump administration officials with their Bible-based talking points attempting to justify their border policy of stripping children from their parents. The same group, Capitol Ministries, was previously welcomed to the Wisconsin Capitol by Gov. Scott Walker when they established a Bible study group here to help “... Christians in the political sphere.”

Gov. Scott Walker declined Tuesday to voice support for Wisconsin to enact its version of a new Iowa law that bans abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, typically about six weeks into a pregnancy. “I think our laws protecting life in this state are very strong,” Walker told reporters in Madison. Asked again if he would back something like the Iowa law here, Walker repeated that Wisconsin’s existing laws are strong. Walker’s unwillingness to publicly support the controversial measure comes as his bid for a third term is heating up.

Media reports, based on records obtained by One Wisconsin Now, reveal a top lawyer in Gov. Scott Walker’s office joined Attorney General Brad Schimel and two Department of Justice lawyers attending a controversial conference hosted by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). According to a Walker spokesperson, state employee J.D. Tripoli had all expenses covered by the ADF, classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, to attend their conference at a luxurious ocean side resort in California in July 2017.

At their annual state convention this weekend, Gov. Scott Walker’s Republican Party of Wisconsin (RPW) will be charging $50 per person for a “pay to pray” breakfast on Sunday. In exchange for their cash, attendees will, according to the RPW convention ticket website, have exclusive access to pray with top GOP office holders.

Gov. Scott Walker signed 64 bills into law Tuesday, including one that prohibits state health insurance plans for public employees from covering abortion procedures with some exceptions.The abortion bill, which the Assembly passed in November and the Senate passed in February along party lines after it failed to pass in 2013, is the latest in a series of laws passed by Walker and the Republican-controlled Legislature that restrict access to abortion… The latest bill prohibits the Group Insurance Board from covering abortions except in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life of the mother. State law already limited state health plans to covering only medically necessary abortions, though bill proponents said the new law was needed to clarify what constitutes a medically necessary abortion.

The governor’s 2017-19 budget proposal would make optional the “allocable segregated fees” portion of the tuition bill at University of Wisconsin System schools. These are the student fees that fund such things as student government, student organizations and even a free bus pass program for UW-Madison students. “At a time when we want to make college more affordable, we should not be forcing all students to pay for things such as ‘Sex Out Loud,’” said Walker spokesman Tom Evenson in a statement. “The governor’s proposal reduces tuition for students by 5 percent and ensures they have the final say on what their money funds in terms of allocable programs. It is all aimed at affordability and accountability.”

The state on Wednesday halted insurance coverage of gender reassignment surgery for transgender state workers, noting that a federal judge blocked federal rules requiring such coverage. Covering gender reassignment surgery and related benefits would have cost $100,000 to $250,000 a year in a $1.5 billion program that provides health benefits to about 250,000 state and local government workers and their dependents, a state consultant said. The estimate assumes two to five people would have used the transgender services per year. Mark Lamkins, spokesman for the state Department of Employee Trust Funds, said the department couldn’t determine Wednesday if any workers or dependents pursued the benefits in January, when they were available. The services had to be deemed medically necessary. The Group Insurance Board, which oversees the benefits program, decided in July to add coverage of transgender services in 2017, following advice from its attorneys that federal rules from the Affordable Care Act require the coverage. In August, the state Department of Justice, at Gov. Scott Walker’s request, asked the board to reconsider. It said the board’s decision was based on “unlawful” rules that “improperly reinterpret” Title IX, which covers discrimination on the basis of sex, as applying to gender identity.

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin will permanently shutter one of its three abortion clinics in the state, leaving Madison and Milwaukee as the only cities in Wisconsin offering abortions… Five Planned Parenthood health centers have closed in Wisconsin since Gov. Scott Walker eliminated state funding for the organization in 2011, though none were facilities that provided abortions. The Appleton clinic will be the sixth to close.

Wisconsin is joining 10 other states in a federal lawsuit to challenge President Barack Obama’s mandate requiring all public K-12 and postsecondary schools to allow students to use locker rooms and restrooms based on their “gender identity.” Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, backed by Gov. Scott Walker, is leading the state’s entry into the lawsuit, joining Texas, Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Scott Walker, who appointed Bradley to three judgeships in as many years — including as Supreme Court justice last fall — said Monday that “neither the Governor nor our office was aware of the columns.” The spokeswoman did not immediately respond to whether Walker would have appointed Bradley had he known. “Justice Bradley appropriately made it clear today that a column written in college does not reflect her views as a Supreme Court Justice, a court of appeals judge, a circuit court judge or as an attorney,” Walker said in a statement.

Gov. Scott Walker signed two bills Thursday that cut by several million dollars a year the amount of public money that goes to Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. “We want to make sure as taxpayers whether it’s state funds or federal funds that come through the State of Wisconsin that they’re used in the way that’s responsible and reasonable,” Walker said before signing the bills, which he said would withhold money to “controversial entities like Planned Parenthood.” One bill restricts how much Planned Parenthood can be reimbursed for prescription drugs, stripping it of an estimated $4 million a year, according to Planned Parenthood. A second measure is expected to cut another $3.5 million in government payments to Planned Parenthood because it provides abortions. Walker signed the bills at Life’s Connection, a clinic in Waukesha specializing in abortion alternatives.

Walker among Republicans against Trump’s idea to ban Muslims: The Associated Press reports: “Gov. Scott Walker joins a growing number of Republicans publicly opposing presidential candidate Donald Trump’s call to ban Muslims from entering the United States. Walker, who abandoned his own presidential campaign in September, was in Chippewa Falls Tuesday where he told WQOW-TV that the country’s founding principles are based on protecting religious liberties, so he disagrees with Trump’s proposal.

Gov. Scott Walker pledged Monday that the state “will not accept new Syrian refugees” as he and Republican legislators joined a national chorus of mostly GOP leaders Monday calling on President Barack Obama to bar refugees from entering the United States. Immigration experts said governors can’t legally prohibit refugees from settling in their states but they can establish policies that make living in their states more difficult. Walker said in the wake of last week’s terrorist attacks in Paris that Wisconsin’s first priority “must be to protect our citizens.” “In consultation with our adjutant general, who also serves as my homeland security adviser, it is clear that the influx of Syrian refugees poses a threat,” Walker said. “With this in mind, I am calling upon the president to immediately suspend the program pending a full review of its security and acceptance procedures.”

Walker maintains that he has consistently opposed abortion in all cases, even though he signed a 20-week abortion ban in July that includes an exception for the life of a mother. He had already changed his mind once on that exception. In the 1990s as a state legislator, he told anti-abortion group Pro-Life Wisconsin that he supported it, but since 2000 he has told the group he opposed it.During his short-lived presidential campaign and again in a recent interview with reporters, Walker laid out a defense of his position. “You can protect both the life of the mother and the life of the child,” Walker said. “Now I’ve supported and signed legislation that made emergency exceptions for the life of the mother, but … that’s a false choice. There are plenty of medical options that allow you to provide for both.” Bioethicists and doctors who study the issue and train OB/GYNs in what to do in such situations say it’s true medical advancements in recent decades have reduced the number of cases in which a choice is necessary. But they also argue doctors and families still occasionally face that choice. “The governor is mistaken if he’s claiming that kind of case never occurs,” said Lawrence Hinman, a bioethicist and professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of San Diego. “Politically, my guess is, it’s wishful thinking. If the choice between the life of the mother and the life of the fetus never occurs, then we don’t have to get too upset about this language one way or the other.” …Walker answered yes to that question in 2000, 2006, 2010 and 2012. That was a change from his response on the questionnaire when he ran for Assembly in 1994, 1996 and 1998 when he said he supported an exception for the life of a mother, Sande said. Walker told the reporters the only thing that has changed over the past 20 years, is “it’s become clear to me and to many others that you can do both.” During the 2014 election, Walker didn’t fill out the survey, forfeiting a shot at the group’s endorsement. He also drew fire from liberal groups — and later from conservatives during his run for president — for a political ad in which he touted being “pro-life” but also signing a bill “that leaves the final decision to a woman and her doctor.”

Gov. Scott Walker Thursday came out in favor of clearer rules on which bathrooms can be used by transgender students in public schools. The Republican governor was reacting to a proposal by two GOP lawmakers that would require public schools to designate their restrooms and locker rooms as “male” or “female.” The bill would effectively bar transgender students from using the facilities in the gender with which they identify. The measure would allow transgender students to use single-stall restrooms if their parents or guardians seek the accommodation in writing. “I think it’s important to have some clarity about that and I know school districts around the state have just begun to deal with that,” Walker said of the issue. “I understand at least one school district has looked at a separate bathroom and I think that makes some sense but I think with respect to all the other students there’s got to be some clarity.” Rep. Jesse Kremer (R-Kewaskum) and Sen. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) said in an email seeking co-signers for the bill that it would protect all students’ privacy and safety and reinforce “the societal norms in our schools.”

Governor Walker, before he withdrew from the presidential race, said he thought abortion should be forbidden even if the mother dies,” Judge Richard Posner said during arguments. “Is that kind of official Wisconsin policy?” “That perhaps is Governor Walker’s personal opinion,” but it’s not the state’s policy, responded Assistant Attorney General Brian Keenan. The GOP governor, who dropped out of the presidential race last week, said in August that choosing between the life of a mother and a fetus was a “false choice” and that better options were always available.

WALKER RHETORIC: “I’ve always been pro-life and I’ve got a position I think is consistent with many Americans out there.”

After being criticized by right-wing power brokers for a 2014 ad in which he moderated his stance on abortion, Gov. Scott Walker has quickly moved to sign the dangerous abortion ban he asked lawmakers to pass without exceptions for rape or incest.

Speaking straight to camera in a television ad for his 2014 gubernatorial election, Scott Walker in his own words told Wisconsin he supported leaving, “the final decision to a woman and her doctor.” After being criticized for the ad by right-wing power brokers he needs to win the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, Gov. Scott Walker called for a new abortion ban in Wisconsin. The State Assembly gave final passage to that ban today and in the process interfered in the intensely personal decisions of women to terminate a wanted pregnancy and put their judgment before medical professionals to boost Gov. Walker’s political ambition.

Gov. Scott Walker said Monday he will sign a proposed 20-week abortion ban whether or not it includes an exemption for cases of rape or incest. Walker, who had previously expressed support for the bill that's on a fast track in the Wisconsin Legislature, said it didn't matter whether there was an exemption. As introduced, there is none in the bill.

In a recent radio interview nationally recognized women’s reproductive health expert, Dr. Douglas Laube, said the new abortion ban proposed by legislative Republicans and supported by Gov. Scott Walker (Assembly Bill 237/Senate Bill 179) could force a woman terminating a pregnancy to save her life to undergo an invasive cesarean section (c-section) surgery that dramatically increases the chance of injury to or death of the mother.

Thousands of Wisconsinites have signed a One Wisconsin Now petition demanding Gov. Walker cease having Wisconsin do business with Indiana in light of the Hoosier state’s unprecedented attack on the LGBT community signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike Pence.

“A federal judge on Friday struck down a Wisconsin law requiring doctors performing abortions to get hospital-admitting privileges, concluding that the measure was enacted primarily to provide an obstacle for women seeking abortions. U.S. District Judge William Conley, who earlier had put the law on hold, ruled that the 2013 law is unconstitutional. He issued a permanent injunction blocking its enforcement. "The only reasonable conclusion is that the legislation was motivated by an improper purpose, namely to restrict the availability of abortion services in Wisconsin," Conley wrote.”

One Wisconsin Now is warning New Hampshire voters to beware this weekend when Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker visits to audition for the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination. Behind Walker’s rhetoric of economic recovery and courageous, principled action is a trail of deceit, cronyism, corruption and incompetence that includes a sagging state economy, mismanaged budgets, criminal investigations and payoffs to special interests – topped off with politically expedient flip-flops pandering to the most extreme Tea Party wing of the GOP.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani recently questioned President Obama’s love for his country, stating at a private dinner for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, ” do not believe that the president loves America … He wasn’t brought up the way you … and I (were) brought up through love of this country.” “It’s necessary to criticize (Obama) when he fails to measure up to his own principles (as well as) in those places he seems to be deviating from what is appropriate for an elected official, (like) drone attacks and wire taps,” Scott Paeth, DePaul professor of religious studies, said.

“Shifting his tone to reassure social conservatives, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker declared Tuesday that he intends to sign a state law in the coming months that bans abortion after 20 weeks. In an open letter to the Susan B. Anthony List, the likely Republican presidential candidate also said that he supports “similar legislation” now stalled in Congress. “My policies throughout my career have earned a 100 percent rating with pro-life groups in Wisconsin,” Walker writes. “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. I will sign that bill when it gets to my desk and support similar legislation on the federal level.”

“Life is a value I learned from my parents, and it’s a value I have cherished every day, predating my time in politics. My policies throughout my career have earned a 100% rating with pro-life groups in Wisconsin. Just in my first term I signed numerous pieces of pro-life legislation and I will continue working for every life...We prohibited abortion from being covered by health plans in a health exchange.”

“NEWCAP and Family Planning Health Services, as well as other organizations that provide reproductive health services in the state, contend they were paid for contraceptives and other prescription drugs at a rate agreed upon and set by the Department of Health Services in 2009. "We've been following the instructions we have been given, and we've been following them for five years," said Molly Fuller, president and chief executive of Family Planning Health Services. All of the family planning clinics, including those run by Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, are paid the same rate by the state. "We are all doing it the same way," said Nicole Safar, director of policy and legal advocacy for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. The Office of the Inspector General's contention, first reported by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, has raised more questions than answers. How could the clinics overbill for contraceptives and other prescription drugs when the state sets the payment rate? And if the state did pay the clinics too much for the drugs, how could it go undetected for five years? The Department of Health Services isn't saying. The department declined to comment on the audits or explain how it pays family planning clinics for birth-control bills and other prescription drugs. Nor has it answered questions raised by the family planning organizations in their response to the audits.

Molotov In an undated letter posted by the Capital Times Wednesday, Walker wrote to a constituent that he would be happy to display a menorah at the Milwaukee County Courthouse. At the time, he was serving as county executive. But what stands out most is his closing line. From the letter: Thank you for your letter regarding the Menorah Display. Yes we would be happy to display the Menorah celebrating "The Eight Days of Chanukah" here at the Courthouse. [...] Thank you again and Molotov.

“The ad alludes to a July 2013 Wisconsin law that requires women seeking an abortion to get an ultrasound -- either transabdominally, which is done externally, or transvaginally. Wisconsin is among two dozen states that require an ultrasound before an abortion is performed. In Wisconsin, exceptions are made in cases of sexual assault or medical emergency. The governor’s office praised the measure, saying it "improves a woman's ability to make an informed choice that will protect her physical and mental health now and in the future." The law was opposed by the Wisconsin Medical Society, among others. The society said the measure as a "direct infringement on the patient-physician relationship" and for injecting "non-evolving government mandates into medical science."...The law doesn’t mandate transvaginal ultrasounds, rather it says the woman seeking an abortion can choose either a transvaginal or transabdominal ultrasound. But medical professionals say that the new requirement, as a practical matter, means some women have to get a transvaginal ultrasound.”

Walker has led the way on a "no exceptions" stance for Wisconsin in the past. As a state lawmaker, in 1998, he co-authored a bill that would have banned abortions after 20 weeks, even in cases of rape, incest or when the mother’s health was in jeopardy. Physicians who performed the procedure would have faced life in prison. In 2010, he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board that he is completely opposed to abortion, even in cases of rape or incest.

 In a recent campaign television ad Gov. Scott Walker, on record as opposed to abortion even in cases of rape or incest, speaks directly to the camera and tries to minimize the impact of “the bill”. Based on his long track record of supporting, authoring, voting for and signing into law measures that restrict women's access to healthcare services including abortion, One Wisconsin Now is asking Gov. Walker to clarify which bill he was referring to in his TV ad.

 In an attempt to appear moderate while also keeping his 2016 Republican presidential primary ambitions alive, career politician Scott Walker has taken to the airwaves and the internet to try to cover up his extreme views, while also touting them. One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross noted that Gov. Walker's 20-year demonstrated record of extremism on women's reproductive health issues and a “100 percent” rating from an extremist group are at odds with his new TV ad in which he speaks directly to camera.

“A fifth Planned Parenthood health center closed in Wisconsin on Thursday due to state budget cuts that directed family planning money away from the provider. The Fond du Lac clinic did not provide abortion services. It offered birth control, sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment, pregnancy tests, annual exams and breast cancer screenings to over 1,000 patients a year. A spokesperson for the clinic blamed the closure directly on Gov. Scott Walker (R), whose 2011-2013 budget eliminated over $1 million in state funding to Planned Parenthood clinics.”

“On Monday, a spokesperson from Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s administration told the conservative website Media Trackers that Wisconsin will no longer require employers to follow the state law mandating coverage. Current state law in Wisconsin mandates that companies with insurance plans covering certain services, like outpatient care, preventive treatment, and prescription drugs, must also cover contraceptives approved by the Food and Drug Administration and prescribed by a health-care provider.”

 In his first state budget in 2011, Gov. Scott Walker unsuccessfully attempted to repeal the state law guaranteeing contraceptive equity for women in their health care. This week the Walker administration announced it is halting enforcement of Wisconsin’s equity law, using the Hobby Lobby decision as justification, despite being quoted as saying, “It really hasn’t been an issue for us.”

“Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) administration announced Friday evening that it was delaying its controversial restructuring of a popular health care program for low-income women, after an outcry from women's health advocates..." Stakeholders in the provider and coordinator communities have reached out to us with questions, concerns, and suggestions about how the proposed model would work. We have listened carefully, and have modified our original proposal based on those concerns," McKeown wrote to local health offices, WWWP providers and WWWP coordinators. By Dec. 1, the state will begin to select the providers who will form the new network. By April 1, 2015, it plans to have the new structure of providers and regional coordinators in place, with everything up and running by July.”

Nearly 15,000 individuals have voiced their opposition to the anti-woman agenda of Gov. Walker and the state big business lobby, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, signing an online petition telling them to, “Respect Wisconsin Women.” EMILY's List, the nation's largest resource for women in politics, and One Wisconsin Now sponsored the effort.

“Gov. Scott Walker signed a bill Friday requiring doctors who perform abortions to have hospital admitting privileges, and abortion clinics responded by immediately suing state officials over the measure. The law — signed Friday by Walker in a private ceremony — would cut the number of clinics offering abortions in Wisconsin from four to two, and one of the remaining clinics would have to dramatically cut the number of abortions it provides, according to the operators of the clinics. "When women don't have access to safe, legal abortions, there are health consequences and women die," said Teri Huyck, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.”

Gov. Scott Walker quietly signed a contentious Republican bill Friday that would require women seeking abortions to undergo an ultrasound and ban doctors who lack admitting privileges at nearby hospitals from performing the procedures. Opponents contend legislators shouldn't force women to undergo any medical procedure and the bill will force two abortion clinics where providers lack admitting privileges to shut their doors. The law takes effect Monday. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit within hours of the signing alleging the bill is unconstitutional and asking for a temporary restraining order blocking the measure.”

In his twenty years in office, Scott Walker has amassed a truly astounding record of failure. To commemorate the looming anniversary of his first election to office, One Wisconsin Now is highlighting a different and depressing failure of Gov. Walker every day, for twenty days. The title “Governor of the State of Wisconsin” suggests that the holder of the office would consider the diversity of the entire state's population. As judged by his actions in office, Scott Walker has clearly failed in this regard.

In his twenty years in office, Scott Walker has amassed a truly astounding record of failure. To commemorate the looming anniversary of his first election to office, One Wisconsin Now is highlighting a different and depressing failure of Gov. Walker every day, for twenty days. In today's installment, as the Republican controlled legislature is poised to adopt even more radical, right-wing legislation attacking women's health care, the lowlights of Gov. Walker's abysmal record on the issue are up.

OWN is highlighting different Walker fails over the course of 20 days. Day two discusses right wing legislation attacking women’s health care. Scot Ross commented, “When given the choice between protecting women’s access to safe and legal health care services or pandering to the most extreme right-wing of the Republican Party, Scott Walker has sided with the extremists over Wisconsin women every time.”

“Planned Parenthood will be closing four rural Wisconsin locations between April and July because the nonprofit health care organization has lost $1.1 million in state funding, officials announced Monday. The centers in Beaver Dam, Johnson Creek, Chippewa Falls and Shawano don't get enough private funding to stay financially viable without the state support, which the Legislature eliminated in the 2011-'13 state budget. The locations are the only reproductive health care providers in their communities, officials said during a conference call from Madison...Planned Parenthood officials stressed that the $1.1 million the organization lost in state funding for nine counties mainly paid for infrastructure costs. The money was never used to provide abortion services, which would have been against state and federal laws, officials said.”

“Gov. Scott Walker signed four bills relating to women’s reproductive health and pay equality without the usual public fanfare last Thursday, a move that came under fire from Democrats and advocacy groups. Walker signed the four bills into law on Thursday and announced their signing, along with 47 other bills, in a statement released the following day. The first three bills relate to abortions in the state, and the fourth relates to women’s health issues, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau. One piece of legislation repeals Wisconsin’s Healthy Youth Act.”

“Beth Kaplan, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health Services, told Mother Jones that no decision has been made on the contract and would not comment on why it might not be continued. But Tanya Atkinson, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin, says they were told that the state is cutting them out of the program. "They have very clearly stated that they were ending the contract with us," she says. (UPDATE: Walker himself has confirmed that the state is ending its contract with Planned Parenthood...The move puts in question what will happen to the more than 1,000 women that access the Well Woman Program through Planned Parenthood in Winnebago, Fond du Lac, Sheboygan, and Outagamie counties every year.)

“Among measures cheered by anti-abortion groups, the 2011-13 biennial budget prohibits any entity that provides abortions at any of its facilities from participating in the state's family planning program. The change renders Planned Parenthood, which performs abortions at three Wisconsin sites, ineligible for those funds and means an annual loss of about $1 million to that organization…Harrington said the loss of the family planning money "seriously jeopardizes" the future of nine Planned Parenthood health centers in the state that do not perform abortions but provide thousands of uninsured men and women with services such as cancer screenings and breast exams.”

The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the state’s domestic partnership registry Thursday, ensuring same-sex couples will retain certain rights no matter how a federal court rules on the state’s constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. In a unanimous decision written by Justice N. Patrick Crooks, the court emphasized that proponents of the amendment, including Wisconsin Family Action executive director Julaine Appling, the lead plaintiff in the case, and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, made public statements in 2006 that the marriage amendment wouldn’t prevent the Legislature from granting certain rights to same-sex couples.

After his 2010 election Walker fired Pines, leaving defense of the law up to gay rights advocate Fair Wisconsin and other interested parties that had intervened in the case. Pines said Thursday the state paid his firm $75,000 between Oct. 29, 2009, and June 28, 2011, for work on the case.

Gov. Scott Walker has fired the lawyers defending the state in a challenge to Wisconsin's domestic partnership law. But the governor's spokesman said his office "is still working to appoint a new counsel to the case." Madison attorney Lester Pines informed Dane County Circuit Judge Daniel Moeser in a March 22 letter that his firm, Cullen Weston Pines & Bach, had been "terminated" by Walker as counsel for the state in the lawsuit filed in 2009 by Julaine Appling, president of Wisconsin Family Action, a conservative advocacy group.

“Barrett’s campaign, though, points to the first question on the survey: ‘Would you sign legislation that declares that a preborn child has an inalienable right to life from the moment of fertilization forward?...Did Walker know about -- and agree with -- the group’s views on birth control as causing abortion?For the 2010 election, candidates were given survey instructions and a memo entitled "Hormonal Birth Control and its Abortion Causing Effect," according to Sande. That memo clearly lays out the group’s view that "any artificial action that works to destroy a human embryo is abortifacient in nature." It lumps "most if not all birth control drugs and devices" into that category. Sande downplays the chances Pro-Life Wisconsin will succeed in its anti birth-control agenda because it believes society is not ready for it. But a birth control ban is the group’s aim. Its mechanism to get there is "personhood" legislation -- Question 1 on the candidate survey.’”

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker refuses to admit he would support a ban on embryonic stem cell research if elected governor, but Walker told supporters in 2005 he would have signed a bill Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed at the time that was a direct threat to embryonic stem cell research. Walker told his supporters of the ban in the November 10, 2005 “Walker Weekly,” an electronic newsletter during his failed previous bid for governor.

The Pro-Life Wisconsin Victory Fund Political Action Committee (PAC) today announced its dual endorsement of Mark Neumann and Scott Walker for Wisconsin governor....Pro-Life Wisconsin Victory Fund supports candidates for public office who demonstrate a commitment to protect each and every innocent human life – in all circumstances and at all stages of development. To be “100% pro-life” is to know that a human life begins at fertilization and that there may never be a legal exception to an innocent child’s inalienable right to life.”

As noted in articles above, Pro-Life Wisconsin requires a 100% rating to receive their endorsement. Walker won the endorsement in 2010 by answering yes to this question, among others: “1. Would you sign legislation that bans abortion in all cases? (Pro-Life Wisconsin supports legal protection for all preborn babies, including those conceived in rape and incest. If a physician claims that a mother’s life may be in danger, PLW opposes direct abortion and supports equal care for mother and child. Please see the enclosed memo on why a “life of the mother” exception is dangerous and unnecessary.)”

A Milwaukee County Board committee on Monday recommended that the full board sustain County Executive Scott Walker's veto of a measure that would lay the groundwork for granting domestic partner health benefits to county employees. The Personnel Committee voted 5-2 to uphold Walker's Nov. 16 veto. Walker and other opponents of the domestic partners measure said the benefit would be too costly at a time when the county faces serious budget problems.”

“I’ve had concerns about (county benefits) in general because of the cost. Quite frankly, I think people are fed up with a number of benefits given at the county level. The last thing we can do is be adding even more to it.”

At age 7, Scott Walker formed a ‘Jesus USA’ club in tiny Plainfield, Iowa, a farming community a half hour north of Waterloo where his father was the local Baptist pastor … The young Walker mounted a successful door-to-door fund drive for a state flag for the village hall, recalls Walker's father, the Rev. Llewelyn Walker.

“Pharmacists could refuse to fill birth control prescriptions if doing so violates their moral or ethical beliefs under a bill before a state committee. The "conscience clause bill" (AB 168) introduced by Rep. Scott Walker, R-Wauwatosa, is aimed at the so-called "morning after" pill, which stops a pregnancy after unprotected sex, and the abortion drug RU-486. But it also would allow pharmacists to refuse to dispense most other forms of birth control, since in some cases things like the pill or intrauterine device (IUD) can prevent the implantation of fertilized eggs. "No person should be forced to engage in the destruction of another person's life, no matter the stage of development," Walker said.”

Provisions of bill would have required women seeking an abortion to be told they could “anonymously and with immunity from liability relinquish custody of her newborn child to a law enforcement officer, an emergency medical technician, or a hospital staff member when the newborn child is 72 hours old or younger.”

The bill banned “the use of funds for family planning services and pregnancy counseling to prescribe, dispense or administer a contraceptive prescription drug or device to a minor without parental notification.”

1. sterilization procedures;
2. certain procedures that prevent the implantation of a fertilized human ovum;
3. abortions;
4. experiments or medical procedures that involve the destruction of a human embryo or that involve a human embryo or unborn child but do not relate to the beneficial treatment of the human embryo or unborn child;
5. procedures using fetal tissue or organs;
6. withholding or withdrawing nutrition or hydration under certain circumstances; or
7. acts causing or assisting in the death of an individual, including assisted suicide, euthanasia or mercy killing. There is no exception for an employer to show that the refusal poses an undue hardship.”

The bill prohibited same sex marriages from occurring in Wisconsin and prohibited the state from recognizing a same sex marriage performed in another state where it was legal. (Assembly Journal)

The bill cut off any state funding for pro-choice groups and prohibited a state employee while acting within the scope of his or her employment from providing abortion services, promoting, encouraging or counseling in favor of abortion services or make abortion referrals either directly or through an intermediary in any instance other than when an abortion is directly and medically necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman. The bill also prohibited public property from being used in connection with providing or facilitating abortions.

The bill proposed allowing doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health care workers to refuse to participate in sterilization, abortion, assisted suicide and other procedures or dispensing emergency contraception or birth control based on their personal religious or moral beliefs.

Walker sponsored 1997 Assembly Bill 220 to criminally ban an abortion procedure that included an exception for the life of the mother, but not her health.

“I won’t shy away from the fact that it had appeal to myself and other conservative members who don’t believe we should fund this, but the broad appeal was financial.”

1. The name of the physician who will perform or induce the abortion.
2. The probable anatomical and physiological characteristics of the unborn child at the time that the information is given.3. The details of the medical or surgical method that will be used in performing or inducing the abortion.
3. That fetal ultrasound imaging and auscultation of fetal heart tone services are available that enable a pregnant woman to view the image or hear the heartbeat of her unborn child and how the woman may obtain these services if she desires to do so.
4. That if, in the reasonable medical judgment of the physician, the woman's unborn child has reached viability, the physician is required to take all steps necessary under current law to preserve and maintain the life and health of the child.
5. Any other information that a reasonable patient would consider material and relevant to a decision of whether or not to carry a child to birth or to undergo an abortion.
6. That the woman may withdraw her consent to have an abortion at any time before the abortion is performed or induced.
7. That the woman is not required to pay for performance or inducement of the abortion until at least 24 hours have elapsed after provision of the information.

The bill, signed in to law in May 1996, expanded “requirements for a woman's informed consent for performance or inducement of an abortion and for consent to a minor's obtaining an abortion and providing a penalty”

The bill created a “series of crimes providing penalties, based on current law, for persons who cause death, great bodily harm or harm to an unborn child.”

The bill would have banned the state group insurance board from providing group health insurance coverage for abortion to employees in the Wisconsin retirement system.