Scott Walker defends mandatory ultrasounds

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker defended his decision to sign a law in Wisconsin mandating ultrasounds for women before they get abortions, calling ultrasounds “just a cool thing out there.”

In an interview on “The Dana Show,” the Wisconsin Republican and 2016 presidential hopeful boasted to host Dana Loesch, “We defunded Planned Parenthood, we signed a law that requires an ultrasound. Which, the thing about that, the media tried to make that sound like that was a crazy idea.”


Defending the legislation against what he called the “gotcha” media, Walker said, “Most people I talk to, whether they’re pro-life or not, I find people all the time who’ll get out their iPhone and show me a picture of their grandkids’ ultrasound and how excited they are, so that’s a lovely thing. I think about my sons are 19 and 20, you know we still have their first ultrasound picture. It’s just a cool thing out there.”

“We just knew if we signed that law, if we provided the information, that more people if they saw that unborn child would, would make a decision to protect and keep the life of that unborn child.”

The law in question not only required women seeking abortions to have an ultrasound, but also banned doctors without admitting privileges from performing procedures. At the time of its passing, the state’s Planned Parenthood said the measure would require two abortion clinics whose doctors lack such privileges to close.

Discussing the extent to which social issues should define Republican candidates, Walker said such themes “shouldn’t be the only thing” a campaign emphasizes, though “it certainly is a part of who we are and we shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it, and we shouldn’t be afraid to push back.”

He then attacked Hillary Clinton’s views on the issue.

“When you think about Hillary Clinton, and you think about some others on the left … I think it’s reasonable, whether you’re pro-life or not, to say that taxpayers dollars shouldn’t be spent to support abortion or abortion-related activities,” the GOP presidential prospect continued. “Most Americans believe in that. There are many candidates on the left who don’t share that belief.”

Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards responded in a statement sent to NPR that “Women are very clear that forced government ultrasounds are not ‘cool.’”