http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/scott-walker-attacked-over-abortion-quote-that-he-didnt-actually-say/article/2565129Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker believes forced ultrasounds are "just a cool thing for women," a handful of online news sites reported Wednesday.
Problem is: That's not exactly what the Republican governor and likely 2016 presidential candidate said.
In an interview Friday with conservative radio host Dana Loesch, Walker defended a bill that he signed into law in 2013 mandating that women seeking abortions must also be provided with ultrasounds.
The measure, Senate Bill 206, or Sonya's Law, reads, "This bill requires … that before a person may perform or induce an abortion the physician … [must] perform, or arrange for a qualified person to perform, an ultrasound on the pregnant woman using whichever transducer the woman chooses."
Walker bragged in his interview with Loesch that he and his team, "defunded Planned Parenthood."
"We also signed a law that requires an ultrasound. Which, the thing about that, the media tried to make that sound like that was a crazy idea," he said.
The Wisconsin governor, who is also the father to two sons, then marveled at the technology behind ultrasounds.
"Most people I talk to, whether they're pro-life or not, I find people all the time who'll get out their iPhone and show me a picture of their grandkids' ultrasound and how excited they are, so that's a lovely thing. I think about my sons are 19 and 20, you know we still have their first ultrasound picture. It's just a cool thing out there," he said.
"We just knew if we signed that law, if we provided the information, that more people if they saw that unborn child would, would make a decision to protect and keep the life of that unborn child," he added.
Newsrooms took it from there, editing together Walker's comments so that they could claim in headlines that the Republican lawmaker said "forced ultrasounds" are "cool."
Right Wing Watch, a left-wing watchdog group, was one of the first to take on Walker's comments, publishing a story Tuesday titled "Scott Walker: Ultrasounds Should Be Mandatory Since They're 'A Cool Thing.'"
On Wednesday, multiple newsrooms appeared to follow Right Wing Watch's lead.
Talking Points Memo published a headline that read, "Scott Walker: Mandatory Ultrasounds Are 'Just A Cool Thing' For Women."
"Potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) said in an interview on Friday that mandatory ultrasounds for women hoping to get an abortion was 'just a cool thing,'" read the opening paragraph to TPM's write up of the Walker interview.
Politico published a story with the headline, "Scott Walker on mandatory ultrasounds: 'It's just a cool thing out there.'" That headline has since been amended so that it now reads, "Scott Walker defends mandatory ultrasounds."
The Week chimed in, "Scott Walker defends mandatory ultrasounds: They're 'just a cool thing.'"
Not to be outdone, Salon claimed in its write-up of Walker's remarks that he said, "Women should be forced to have transvaginal ultrasounds because they are 'a cool thing.'"
Raw Story also jumped in with a story titled, "Scott Walker: Women should be forced to have ultrasounds because they're 'a cool thing.'"
Then there was Mother Jones, which published a report titled, "Scott Walker Says Mandatory Ultrasounds Are 'Just a Cool Thing' for Women."
Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards cashed in on the media brouhaha Wednesday afternoon by saying in a statement to NPR that, "Women are very clear that forced government ultrasounds are not 'cool.'"
