Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Tony Evers has caused quite a stir after making a bizarre comparison between the removal of one’s tonsils and the destruction of an unborn child.
“We need to have the Medicaid money be available for all people and restricting it because of a certain procedure, whether it’s a tonsillectomy or any other procedure, seems to me a foolhardy thing to do,” Evers told The Weekly Standard.
Evers is mounting a challenge against the incumbent governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, who has been in office since 2011. Walker is a staunch pro-life advocate. In 2013, he signed a bill that requires any women who are seeking an abortion to undergo an ultrasound, and which also ensures that doctors display an image of the fetus for the woman to see. He has also played an active role in defunding leading abortion provider, Planned Parenthood.
In his interview with TWS, Ewers admitted that his party needed the votes of some pro-life individuals if he was to come out on top in the upcoming election. “Pro-life Democrats are welcome in the party, and I respect their decisions on this issue,” he said, before asserting the necessity of Medicaid to provide cover for elective abortions in the same it provides surgeries for benign conditions such as tonsillitis.
Rev. Franklin Graham, the son of the late evangelist, Billy Graham, took issue with this assertion in a fiery post on Facebook.
“What does it say about our culture when it is acceptable to compare an abortion to a tonsillectomy?” Graham asked. “That’s pretty unbelievable.”
He continued: “An abortion is the killing of a child in the womb, intentionally ending a life. Taxpayers paying for tonsil removal is not at all the same as paying for an abortion. Far too many people who want to be governors, legislators, professors, and teachers in this nation have fallen prey to a culture of death philosophy. They are denying the worth of millions of children made in the image of God.”
Currently, the Hyde Amendment protects federal dollars from being directly used to fund abortions. The only instance in which an exception may be made is if the woman’s life is at risk, or if the pregnancy was as a result of incest or rape.
The race has narrowed between Evers and Walker, with the latter touting his record in lowering unemployment and improving the economy. “Scott Walker keeps his promises and has led our state to record low unemployment and historic actual-dollar investments in our schools,” said Walker’s spokesman Austin Altenburg, as reported by MPR News.
Evers responded, declaring that “after nearly eight years of Scott Walker dividing and conquering, breaking his promises, and putting his political ambitions before us” it was time for change.