Tim Michels now says he is ‘not against contraception’
GREEN BAY - The Republican candidate for governor leading in state polling now says he is “not against contraception” after previously refusing to say whether he would sign legislation banning emergency contraceptives, known as Plan B.
“I am against abortion, I am not against contraception,” Tim Michels, a construction executive endorsed by former President Donald Trump, told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin in an interview Tuesday when asked whether he would sign a bill as governor banning Plan B.
Michels made the comments at a campaign stop in Green Bay, kicking off a two-day, statewide tour through the northern parts of the state. The tour comes less than a month before an Aug. 9 primary election during which he will face former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and state Rep. Tim Ramthun.
Kleefisch has pledged not to ban Plan B as scrutiny of Republican candidates' positions on emergency contraceptives come under scrutiny in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that has halted abortion procedures in the state.
Earlier this month, Michels would not say whether he would sign legislation banning emergency contraceptives after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel obtained audio of a local GOP event in Calumet County where he was asked how he would handle “abortion pills that are being passed off as contraception.”
In the audio, an attendee of the event asks Michels, “I'm concerned about babies' lives being lost to these abortion pills that are being passed off as contraception . ... What are your plans for dealing with that?”
Michels told the attendee “they'll be illegal in Wisconsin.” A campaign spokesman told the Journal Sentinel the attendee was asking about medication abortions, not Plan B. But he would not answer whether Michels would sign legislation banning the emergency contraception.
Emergency contraception, known as morning-after pills, are legal and can halt ovulation, block fertilization or prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in a woman's uterus if taken within three days of sexual intercourse. The pills do not end pregnancies by expelling fertilized eggs already implanted in the uterus.
Wisconsin hospital nurses and doctors are mandated by a 2008 law to inform victims of sexual assault of her right to emergency contraception and to provide the pills upon request.
Women in states like Wisconsin where abortion bans are taking effect following the overturning of Roe have been stocking up on such pills to address unplanned pregnancies that may occur in the future under the state's ban.