Gov. Evers Pledges Not to Sign Abortion Exemptions For Rape & Incest

Wisconsin’s governor wants abortion 100% legal or nothing at all.

Gov. Tony Evers on Tuesday told the crowd at the Rotary Club of Milwaukee that he would not sign a new law allowing for abortions in Wisconsin in cases of rape or incest.

“I wouldn’t sign it because it leaves the underlying law in place,” Evers explained.

The governor has made abortion the centerpiece of his re-election bid.

He has spent millions of dollars, and seen millions more from outside groups spent on campaign commercials calling Republican Tim Michels “radical.”

“[Abortion] shouldn’t be a politician's choice. And that’s where I absolutely disagree with my opponent,” Evers explained.

Michels, for his part, said even though he is pro-life, he would sign a law allowing women who are the victims of sexual assault or incest to get an abortion.

“I am pro-life and make no apologies for that. But I also understand that this is a representative democracy. And if the people, in this case, the legislature, brought a bill before me, as you just stated, I would sign that,” Michels said last month.

“Doing something around [exemptions] is not where I am,” Evers said Tuesday. “I think we should codify Roe v. Wade and get back to the way it has been in the last 50 years in the state of Wisconsin.”

It doesn’t appear likely that Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled legislature would send the governor an abortion exemption plan.

Senate Majority Leader Devin Lemahieu said last month that Republican views on abortion have “not changed.”

Wisconsin is one of about two dozen states that saw their original abortion law trigger into effect when the United States Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last spring. Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion law only allows for abortions to save a mother’s life.