Governor’s position shifts to limit abortion to before 20 weeks

Addresses public in open letter

Story by Glen Olson, Chief Copy Editor

In an open letter March 3, Gov. Scott Walker solidified his stance on abortion — none after 20 weeks, he wrote.

The letter, sent to the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List, listed his accomplishments against abortion, which include lessening money for programs and increasing the amount of education women need.

“In my past four years as governor, we have made substantial progress in the fight for our pro-life values in Wisconsin,” Walker said in the letter. “We defunded Planned Parenthood. We prohibited abortion from being covered by health plans in a health exchange.”

His plan to support legislation limiting the time frame for abortions to 20 weeks would have Wisconsin join 12 other states, including Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas, that already have the ban, according to Prochoiceamerica.org’s numbers from Jan. 1.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services abortion statistics from 2013 list 6,462 abortions in Wisconsin. Of those, only 89, or about 1 percent, were performed after 20 weeks.

Most had abortions eight weeks or less after becoming pregnant, at 3,116 or 48 percent.

Eau Claire does not have a clinic which offers specifically birth control, pregnancy options and abortions, but several are nearby in Milwaukee, Madison and the Twin Cities.