NARAL Pro-Choice America is launching an ad campaign in Iowa, accusing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker of lying to voters about his position on abortion.
The campaign, which includes a full-page ad in Thursday’s Des Moines Register and online ads, comes as Walker heads to Iowa on Saturday along with other potential 2016 Republican presidential challengers for an early appearance before voters in the first-in-the-nation caucus state.
The ad, billed as an open letter from Wisconsin residents to Iowa residents, says that Walker has a “long record of restricting access to contraception and legal abortion.” But NARAL says that in a campaign ad for Walker’s re-election last year against Democrat Mary Burke, he referred to a law he signed as one that leaves ‘the final decision to a woman and her doctor.’”
The ad charges that Walker “cannot be trusted, and we thought you should know.”
“Just last year, in a craven play to win his re-election, Walker looked directly into the camera and lied to Wisconsin voters,” said Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Walker was asked about the ad on Fox News Sunday and drew ire from anti-abortion activists when he said changing the law on abortion is not possible because "the Supreme Court ultimately made that." Two days later, Walker said he’d support and sign legislation to ban abortion after 20 weeks, a move that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called the “latest example of Walker downplaying a major issue until after winning the governor's race.”
The attacks come as polls show Walker emerging as clear favorite among Republican party conservatives. He and nearly a dozen other Republicans are scheduled to talk agricultural and other issues on Saturday at the Iowa Ag Summit in Des Moines. Those confirmed to attend include former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Not attending will be Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who bowed out Wednesday, citing a family wedding.
“I feel terrible about it, we really wanted to be a part of it,” Rubio told the Des Moines Register. “We really thought logistically we were going to be able to get back, but we just can’t do it.”