Meet an anti-abortion rights Senate candidate: Herschel Walker

Herschel Walker, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Georgia, says he is a staunch opponent of abortion rights.

“I believe in from the womb to the tomb,” the former football player said during an event at First Baptist Church Atlanta in February. “You never know who’s that baby is going to be. You never know what that baby gonna become.”

Walker is running against incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, who has been endorsed by NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund in the race.

Under Georgia law, abortion is illegal after six weeks, with exceptions in cases of rape or incest, to protect the life and health of the pregnant person, or if the fetus is not expected to survive the pregnancy.

In December 2021, Walker filled out a candidate questionnaire from the Georgia Life Alliance, an affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee.

To a question about exceptions to a ban on abortions in cases of rape, incest, or if the life of the pregnant person is at risk, Walker responded: “I am 100% pro-life. As Georgia’s next senator, I will vote for any legislation which protects the sanctity of human life, even if the legislation is not perfect. Every human life is valuable and absolutely worth saving.”

In October, a woman told the Daily Beast that the Republican candidate had helped pay for an abortion she had in 2009. Although Walker has denied the allegation, he acknowledged sending a check for $700 to the woman, but denied that it was related to the abortion.

The woman later told the New York Times that Walker had urged her to get a second abortion two years later, and that her refusal had caused the relationship between her and Walker to end.

According to the Daily Beast, Walker had previously confirmed that the woman is the mother of one of his children, although when asked about the relationship during a press conference in October, he said she was not. On Oct. 3, Walker threatened to sue the Daily Beast over its reporting, but a month later Walker has still not filed a lawsuit.

A second woman came forward in late October with claims that Walker had “pressured” her to get an abortion in 1993 against her wishes. According to her claims, Walker personally drove her to the clinic and waited outside.

Walker has repeatedly denied the allegations, calling the newest claim “foolishness” at a press conference last month. “I’ve already told people this is a lie, and I’m not going to entertain, continue to carry a lie along,” he said.

Walker has previously said he supports abortion bans without any exceptions in cases of rape or incest or to protect the patient’s health; he has also denied supporting such complete bans.

“There’s no exception in my mind,” Walker told reporters in May. “Like I say, I believe in life. I believe in life.”

Walker said during an Aug. 22 Faith and Freedom Coalition forum that he opposes exceptions to abortion bans, CNN reported.

“So, I said, ‘I believe in life.’ I believe in life. And I said, you know, if anyone wants to have an exception, I said, ‘Not in my book,'” Walker said at the event. “I said, ‘I’m sorry. I feel bad for anyone that’s a victim of any kind of crime.’ I do. I feel like that. That is terrible and that’s horrible, but we deal with that as it comes.”

Two months later, Walker denied saying he opposed exceptions and said he agrees with Georgia’s current six-week abortion ban.

“It wasn’t a change. I said I support life. Georgia is a state respects life, I’ll be a senator that protects life. And what I said then, I said I will support life, I will always support life, but I said I’ll also support what the people’s voice is. The people’s voice is the Georgia heartbeat bill, which has exceptions in it. But I’m a senator for the people,” Walker told NBC News’ Kristen Welker on Oct. 17.

Going into the final day of voting, a recent poll of likely voters conducted by Emerson College Polling and The Hill shows Warnock with a lead over Walker of 49%-47%, with 2% undecided.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.