Georgia GOP Senate pick Herschel Walker, abortion ban proponent, reportedly funded girlfriend's abortion

(Image credit: Megan Varner/Getty Images)

published 4 October 2022

Herschel Walker, the Republican Senate nominee in Georgia and advocate of strict abortion bans, encouraged his girlfriend to get an abortion in 2009 and then reimbursed her after she underwent the procedure, The Daily Beast reported Monday night. Walker called the report a "flat-out lie" that he denies in the "strongest possible terms," and vowed to sue The Daily Beast for defamation Tuesday morning.

The unidentified woman gave The Daily Beast proof of her relationship with Walker, the receipt for her abortion, a bank deposit receipt with an image of a $700 check from Walker, and a copy of the signed "get well" card — shown in the article — she says Walker enclosed the check in. The Daily Beast also says it independently corroborated the woman's story with a close friend who cared for her after her abortion.

Walker told the woman an abortion would be more convenient and it was "not the right time" for him to have a child, she told The Daily Beast. She said she agreed, and learned only later that Walker had fathered his second of three out-of-wedlock children with another woman earlier that same year. She said she came forward because of Walker's comments equating abortion to murder and support for bans with no exceptions for rape, incest, or the life of the mother. "I just can't with the hypocrisy anymore," she told The Daily Beast. "We all deserve better."

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The allegation that Walker funded a girlfriend's abortion seems to have been an open secret in some circles. Prominent conservative commentator Erick Erickson first said he "thought we all knew this ... old news" about Walker, then later clarified that "it may not have been public," but "it was definitely talked about in quiet discussions."

Christian Walker, Herschel Walker's oldest son, also seemed unsurprised. "You're not a 'family man' when you left us to bang a bunch of women, threatened to kill us, and had us move over 6 times in 6 months running from your violence." he tweeted. "Every family member of Herschel Walker asked him not to run for office, because we all knew (some of) his past. Every single one," but "he decided to give us the middle finger and air out all of his dirty laundry in public, while simultaneously lying about it. I'm done."

"I LOVE my son no matter what," Herschel Walker tweeted.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.