It did not take long after the final debate for yet another Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate to make an outrageous comment on abortion and rape. Indiana candidate Richard Mourdock said:
…I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen.
Lest you think a woman’s right to choose will be bolstered if his Democratic opponent Congressman Joe Donnelly wins, Dave Weigel of Slate.com points out that Donnelly was a co-sponsor, along with Paul Ryan and Todd Akin, of the bill to distinguish “forcible rape” from other rapes.
Talking Points Memo yesterday also commented on a statement by Pennsylvania Senate candidate Tom Smith equating his daughter’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy resulting from consensual sex to a pregnancy resulting from rape. Speaking from the all-important perspective of men, Smith said that as a father he thought the circumstances were similar. What is odd about TPM‘s “reporting” of this is that Josh Marshall’s blog post describes the Smith comment, and it is only by clicking on the link that you become aware the remarks were made in August.
While such comments are obviously offensive and ignorant, these are the views of today’s Republican Party that has become increasingly theocratic and ideological. Keep in mind that the 2010 elections brought in a significant number of Tea Party members of Congress. Despite their lofty rhetoric of reducing the size of government and abiding by the Constitution, one of their first priorities was limiting a woman’s right to control her own body. The anti-abortion zealots were willing to set aside their supposed convictions when the governmental intrusion was interfering with a woman’s choice to assert a right protected by the Constitution.
If you think the new “Moderate Mitt” on display during the debates will prevent further Congressional interference protecting the right to abortion, think again. I don’t think Romney cares about this issue any more than he cares about any issue other than advancing laissez faire capitalism. And in all his years of campaigning for President, he has yet to take a stand on any position that would put him at odds with the GOP’s right-wing extremists.
Tom Noonan 