A private meeting by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker with Iowa Republicans in January did a lot in changing the politician's point of view on abortion.

The New York Times reports that from a "pro-choice" stand in fall, the governor - who now has chances of being included in the pick for the presidential primaries for the GOP - has shifted to a very conservative view on the issue.

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The change is viewed as the governor's efforts to get on his side the Christian conservatives in the GOP.

It also explains his conservative stand on same-sex marriage which is another contentious issue not only before voters but also before the federal Supreme Court.

The daily pointed out that in Walker's interview with The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel a few weeks before the November midterm election, the governor stayed away from the abortion issue and four times did not provide a direct answer on banning abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

However, on January 24, in a speech in Iowa, the governor announced that he passed pro-life legislation in Wisconsin and removed funding for Planned Parenthood.

Marquette Law School Poll Director Charles Franklin noted the strikingly "different portrayal" of abortion compared to his stand in fall.

In a statement, the party now defines Walker as a "pro-life, traditional-marriage Republican who has taken on the special interests."

The extremist view even applies to Science, notes Isthmus, which describes the GOP as a party of denial where the member who aspires to win the nomination for the presidency "can't confess too much familiarity with science."

With his stand, Walker now competes with Florida Gov. Jeb Bush not only for the support of Christian Conservatives in the Republican Party but also for elite donor's contribution.

Besides the shift in tone when it comes to highly divisive issues, Walker is also hiring as part of his team people who ran the campaigns of Mike Huckabee in 2008, Michele Bachmann in 2012 and Joni Ernst's Senate run in Iowa in 2014.

TagsScott Walker, Wisconsin, Republicans, Abortion