Gov. Scott Walker, shown in October after he appointed Rebecca Bradley to an opening on the state Supreme Court, declined on Tuesday to say whether he would have made the appointment had he known about Bradley’s anti-gay commentaries as a student at Marquette University in 1992. Credit: Associated Press

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Supreme Court Justice and candidate Rebecca Bradley, while in college writing for Marquette University's student newspaper, compared the practice of abortion to the Holocaust and slavery.

Writing for the Marquette Tribune in 1992, Bradley equated abortion to "a time in history when Jews were treated as non-humans and tortured and murdered," and "a time in history when blacks were treated as something less than human." Bradley also compared the "handful of deaths" of pregnant women while abortion was still prohibited to the lives of "millions of babies that are murdered every year at the hands of abortionists."

"Where does any difference lie between mutilating a baby in the womb (a legal act) and murdering one's child outside of the womb (an obviously illegal act)?" Bradley wrote.

This is the second day in a row that Bradley's college writings — unearthed by a liberal group — have come under scrutiny. On Monday, attention was on a column in which she derided gays as "queers" and said she had no sympathy for AIDS patients and addicts because they had effectively chosen to kill themselves. At the time, the paper's editors wrote that the column drew more responses than anything printed by the Tribune in years, according to The Associated Press.

Bradley apologized Monday for the writings on AIDS patients and gay people and said that she has since presided over adoptions by gay couples, attended a 2013 fundraiser of two gay-rights groups and donated to a camp for children with HIV/AIDS. One Heartland executive director Patrick Kindler confirmed Tuesday that Bradley had donated undisclosed amounts in 2007 and 2008 to the charity, which runs a camp for children affected by HIV/AIDs. Kindler said that, had he known of the column then, he would have asked Bradley if her views had changed before accepting the donations.

The comments about abortion carry interest because candidates for the state Supreme Court rarely offer their perspectives on the subject. Indeed, both Bradley and her opponent, JoAnne Kloppenburg, have shied away from sharing their views on issues such as gay marriage and abortion, which could come before the Supreme Court.

In the 1992 Marquette Tribune article, Bradley wrote: "Women even declare some right to control their bodies, neglecting the fact that in choosing abortion they are asserting a right to control another body, and a right to murder their own flesh and blood."

Further in the piece, she wrote: "Do not be persuaded by any pleas for a woman's right to control her body or 'choose' to be pregnant or not; they have no moral or ethical basis..."

Bradley declined an interview with the Journal Sentinel both Monday and Tuesday. Bradley campaign spokesman Madison Wiberg on Tuesday declined to comment on the abortion column, and said it would be improper for the candidate to give an opinion on an issue that could come before the state Supreme Court.

Mistakes of youth

Speaking Tuesday, GOP Gov. Scott Walker said many people make mistakes in their youth and declined to say whether he would have appointed her to the state's highest court had he known of her anti-gay statements.

Walker said Tuesday that Bradley's 1992 views did not reflect those of young conservative activists, like himself, at the time but declined to condemn them.

"I think a good chunk of society probably has different views than they did in college," he said.

The head of a conservative gay-rights group, the Log Cabin Republicans of Wisconsin, Devin Gatton, defended Bradley on Tuesday, saying her attendance at a 2013 fundraiser for two other gay rights groups shows her views have changed.

"Justice Bradley has matured and grown up from where she was decades ago," Gatton said in a Facebook post.

But U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), who is gay, said Tuesday that Bradley should state what her views on homosexuality are today, describe how and why they changed, and meet with people such as AIDS patients whom she had criticized.

As for the donations to the children's camp, Pocan said: "That's equivalent to having a gay friend. That doesn't mean squat."

Bradley's views on abortion are "not just extreme and out of touch but dangerous," said Jenni Dye, research director for One Wisconsin Now, the liberal group that found the columns.

Officials with Wisconsin Right to Life didn't respond to requests for comment.

An aide to Kloppenburg said the candidate did not write for her college newspapers. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has checked online archives and reached out to the staffs at the student newspapers at the universities she attended for her undergraduate, graduate and law school studies. So far, nothing has turned up.

Kloppenburg's campaign manager Melissa Mulliken said she respects as the "law of the land" U.S. Supreme Court rulings such as the 1973 decision in Roe vs. Wade legalizing abortion, the 2014 ruling legalizing gay marriage and a 2008 decision upholding the right to own firearms.

Jason Stein reported for this story from Madison, Annysa Johnson reported from Brown Deer and Mary Spicuzza reported from Milwaukee.