Tim Michels now says he would back legislation allowing abortions in case of rape and incest despite decades of opposition
Molly BeckMADISON – Republican candidate for governor Tim Michels now says he would sign legislation creating exceptions to Wisconsin's abortion law for rape and incest, despite opposing such exceptions for at least two decades and saying as recently as this month that he would not change his position.
Michels, who is narrowly trailing Democratic incumbent Gov. Tony Evers in recent polling, told conservative radio show host Dan O'Donnell on Friday he would sign a bill creating such exceptions to the state's 1849 law that bans all abortions unless the mother's life is in danger.
The reversal comes seven weeks before voters go to the polls to choose between Michels and Evers and as statewide polling show the vast majority of Wisconsinites support legal abortions for women who become pregnant after being raped or as a result of incest.
"Yes, I would sign that bill," Michels told O'Donnell. "And let me say a couple of things about that. 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."
Evers, who is suing to overturn the state's abortion ban, accused Michels of being disingenuous with voters at a time when the issue of abortion is front of mind for many after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in June.
"I have been firm in my support for abortion rights. Tim Michels has been clear that he supports a criminal ban on abortion, with no exceptions for rape, incest, or health of a mother — we cannot let this divisive and radical candidate win," he said in a tweet.
Republican lawmakers who control the state Legislature are in court defending the state's abortion ban against Evers' lawsuit and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who supports adding the exceptions, has said the likelihood of passing legislation creating exceptions for rape and incest is low.
Michels' Friday comments don't match the position he has taken on this issue going back to at least 2004, and in a handful of interviews during this year's governor's race. Michels also has donated money to an anti-abortion lobbying and advocacy group that does not support such exceptions.
Tim Michels claiming he's being pressured to change his position on abortion
On Sept. 6, Michels said he was being pressured to change his stance on abortion but would refuse to do so.
"You'd be amazed at the people that have called me up, I won't give you their names, but you would know their names, that say Tim, you have to soften your stance, you need to be for the exception of rape and incest as well. And I'm principled and my wife and I, we know we have to answer to somebody higher than anybody on the face of the earth," he said at a GOP event in Dane County.
"I'm not gonna soften my stance on abortion. And I think at this point, anyhow, I won't do it, but at this point anyhow, I think it would actually be a negative. I'm winning because people see a strong leader, a man of conviction, a man who doesn't waffle, a man who doesn't flip-flop. I'm gonna stick with what I know is right. And that's what I'm gonna do until the bitter end."
Michels has long opposed abortion exceptions for rape or incest
During his 2004 campaign for U.S. Senate, Michels was asked whether a woman should be forced to have a baby if she were raped and became pregnant, according to a June 13, 2004, article in the Wisconsin State Journal.
"I think she's going to pick up mental trauma from having the abortion as well," Michels said. "To ask her to go through the birth is not unreasonable when you talk about killing the life of that baby."
More recently, during an interview with a WISN-TV reporter in June, Michels said the state's abortion ban "is an exact mirror of my position, and my position is an exact mirror of the 1849 law as well, which has an exception for the life of the mother."
A WISN-TV reporter asked, "But you wouldn’t support exceptions for rape or incest?" Michels responded: "That's correct."
A spokeswoman for Michels did not answer why Michels was changing his position on the issue. The campaign said Michels' personal beliefs hadn't changed.
Recent statewide polling shows that opposing exceptions for rape and incest is a very unpopular position.
The vast majority — 83% — of voters surveyed by Marquette University Law School pollsters this month said the state should allow women to obtain a legal abortion if they become pregnant after being raped or because of incest.
Contact Molly Beck at molly.beck@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.