Amid the allegations that Georgia Republican Senate candidate Hershel Walker paid for a former girlfriend’s abortion, pro-life organizations and GOP leaders have doubled-down in support of him and his campaign.
An affiliate of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America took Walker, who claims to be anti-abortion, at his word, confirming that its endorsement of the former NFL player is still valid.
“Herschel Walker has denied these allegations in the strongest possible terms and we stand firmly alongside him,” Mallory Carroll, spokeswoman for Women Speak Out PAC, the super PAC partner of SBA Pro-Life America, told the Washington Post.
National Right to Life focused on the difference in policy priorities and campaign promises on the life issue between Walker and his opponent, incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock. The sitting progressive senator, who has called himself a “pro-choice pastor,” has advocated for expanded abortion access.
“Herschel Walker wants to protect unborn children while Raphael Warnock wants to see them die through unlimited abortion,” a spokesperson told the publication.
In July 2021, Warnock proposed a bill to create a new “Medicaid-like” program that would provide health care without any premiums to certain low-income residents in the twelve states. However, it lacked the Hyde amendment, meaning it would directly fund elective abortions with taxpayer money.
Senate Leadership Fund, the Super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, suggested that the Walker bombshell is a sideshow and that the GOP imperative is still to get Republicans elected and flip the chamber from Democratic control.
“We are full speed ahead in Georgia. This election is about the future of the country — Herschel Walker will make things better, Raphael Warnock is making it worse. Anything else is a distraction,” SLF President Steven Law told CBS News.
Former president Trump released a statement in defense of Walker on Tuesday, saying “Hershel Walker is being slandered and maligned by the Fake News Media and obviously, the Democrats.” He seemed to justify the development by noting that Warnock may also have skeletons in his closet.
“Interestingly, I’ve hear many horrible things about his opponent, Raphael Warnock, things that nobody should be talking about, so we don’t,” he added.
The string of pro-life group and GOP statements comes after the Daily Beast published a story Monday alleging that Walker paid a former girlfriend to get an abortion, telling her it was “not the right time” for him to parent another child. Walker rejected the accusation outright, calling it a “flat-out lie” and “another repugnant hatchet job from a Democrat activist disguised as a reporter.”
The newspaper allegedly obtained the woman’s $575 receipt from the abortion clinic, dated September 12, 2009; a signed $700 personal check from Walker, dated September 17, 2009; and a “get well” card that was allegedly signed by Walker.