'The Rape Thing' Does Not Excuse Abortions

[AtroposHeart]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/3 ... lp00000009

John Koster, a Republican congressional candidate in Washington state, said Sunday that "the rape thing" is not a good enough reason for a woman to have an abortion, the Associated Press reported.

Asked at a campaign fundraiser whether he supports abortion rights in some situations, Koster replied that he only supports abortion in cases where a woman's life is in danger.

"Incest is so rare, I mean, it's so rare," he said. "But the rape thing-- you know, I know a woman who was raped and kept the child, gave it up for adoption, and she doesn't regret it."

He added, "On the rape thing, it's like, how does putting more violence onto a woman's body and taking the life of an innocent child that's a consequence of this crime -- how does that make it better? You know what I mean?"

Listen to the audio of Koster's comments:

His Democratic opponent, Suzan DelBene, supports abortion rights. Her campaign criticized Koster for trivializing rape.

"Dismissing it as a 'thing' is an awfully casual way for him to talk about it, and I think it highlights how little he understands the ramifications and the seriousness of the issue. So that's very problematic," DelBene spokesperson Viet Shelton told TPM. "And the way he approaches the issue and the policy conclusions he comes to, it just highlights the serious problem we have when politicians are trying to dictate women's health care decisions."

In response to the controversy over his comments, Koster campaign manager Larry Stickney told the AP that Koster clearly takes rape seriously because he has strongly advocated cracking down on sex offenders.

Republican lawmakers and congressional candidates have made headlines several times over the past few months for their comments about rape and abortion. Indiana GOP Senate candidate Richard Mourdock said that pregnancy from rape is "something God intended," Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) said victims of "legitimate rape" almost never become pregnant, and Rep. Tom Smith (R-Pa.) compared pregnancy as a result of rape to "having a baby out of wedlock."

[debrand]

I don't understand why Republicans just don't shut up on this issue.

No one has to have an abortion. If a woman chooses to continue a pregnancy that started through rape, that is her right. However, other women should not be forced to continue with a pregnancy that they don't want. Saying other wise means that you believe that a mass of brainless cells trumps a woman's rights.

[Sprocket]

When did 'rape' become the Republican talking point of 2012? My God, what in the world is the world coming to???!!!!

[2xx1xy1JD]

Explain to me how some chief Republican strategist has not sent out an urgent memo saying:

"Do NOT, whatever you do, mention anything about rape before the election. If asked point blank, just change the topic and say, "you know, the real issue in this election is Obama's record on the economy..." and don't look back. In fact, try not to mention abortion at all, and absolutely stay away from mentioning anything about rape stats, incest stats, pregnancy risks or a woman's ability to get pregnant even if you need to cut out your own tongue."

Is it a lack of control over candidates, or a lack of desire to send such a memo?

[shesinsane]

"Incest is so rare, I mean, it's so rare," he said. "But the rape thing-- you know, I know a woman who was raped and kept the child, gave it up for adoption, and she doesn't regret it."

I know a woman who has had 3 abortions and she doesn't regret it, I guess we're even and he should leave healthcare alone.

Is it wrong to wish breast cancer on John Koster? I think he needs to learn that terrible events are still terrible, even when they're "so rare".

[2xx1xy1JD]

I know a woman who has had 3 abortions and she doesn't regret it, I guess we're even and he should leave healthcare alone.

Is it wrong to wish breast cancer on John Koster? I think he needs to learn that terrible events are still terrible, even when they're "so rare".

Incest is not a unicorn. Unfortunately, it is not "so rare" for a girl to be sexually abused by someone in the family. The whole statement is wrong on so many levels.

[RosyDaisy]

And the rape references keep flying out of the GOP's mouth! ENOUGH ALREADY! We know you are all trying to out pro-life each other and don't give a damn about sexual assault victims or children born of rape. Just shut your disgusting mouths...NOW!!

[Claddagh]

I feel like I keep on having to say "rape is not a 'thing'. It is a horrible and violent act."

I also want to tell this guy to get his facts straight. How many rapes and cases of incest are not reported by the victim?

[Guest Anonymous]

Am I bad for wanting to stick my foot so far up this guy's ass that my toenails would have teeth hanging from them?

[emmyfair]

Am I bad for wanting to stick my foot so far up this guy's ass that my toenails would have teeth hanging from them?

Please do!!

[2xx1xy1JD]

I just listened to the audio, and it's even worse.

The question was simply "are there any circumstances in which you would allow abortion?" HE was the one to bring up rape and incest and basically shoot his mouth off.

[Khiwanean]

The sad thing is republicans shoot their mouths off about rape so much now that someone felt the need to start this website:

http://www.dayswithoutagoprapemention.com/

[Minerva]

1. Are we sure he knows what rape is? I can't picture someone knowing what rape is and just being like "that thing...that distant, abstract thing that I've heard people mention before...yeah, that shouldn't be an excuse."

2. Someone needs to teach this guy to read statistics. Incest, as someone above me has already mentioned, is frighteningly common. It causes fewer than 5% of pregnancies that are terminated, but that does not indicate that it's a rare thing. It's offensive to suggest that it is.

3. Forcing someone to do something with their body that they don't want to is violent, which is exactly why rape is considered a violent crime. If the state could force Koster to have his perineum torn or his abdomen cut open against his will, I doubt he'd be cool with that. Even if you consider killing something that isn't capable of being conscious "violent", it is not even remotely comparable to committing violence against a thinking, feeling human being. Apples and oranges, people.

4. There are thousands of sexual assault survivors out there who can tell him exactly how not having to bear their rapist's child made it better. Yes, he thinks a fetus is a person whose rights outweigh the rights of the person keeping them alive, but it's scary that he can't even fathom why someone who's been raped might not want to carry it to term.

5. He's doing that thing. That thing where someone talks about abortion as if it's a thing that is done to pregnant people and/or fetuses by us as a society, or just done to them in general. I'd joke that a "treating women like objects 101" class is offered by the republican party, but otherwise pro-choice people do it too.

[MarthaMarcyMayMarlen]

No! NOT AGAIN!

[MarthaMarcyMayMarlen]

I wish the Daily Show and the Colbert Report were able to air. They always call these dumbfucks out on this shit.

[BoomerLynn]

That rape thing?! Are you fucking kidding me? :angry-banghead: You would think by now that these asshats would learn to keep their mouths shut on the subject of rape and abortion. It's like they get some kind of satisfaction from being the most extreme of the right-wing.

[rollmeover]

That rape thing?! Are you fucking kidding me? :angry-banghead: You would think by now that these asshats would learn to keep their mouths shut on the subject of rape and abortion. It's like they get some kind of satisfaction from being the most extreme of the right-wing.

I think they do. Its like any normal person with a brain would think, maybe I should shut up about this topic about which I know less than nothing. Talking about rape in a light hearted way seems really popular at the moment too - like "rape" fantasies and talking about a husband raping his wife when what they mean is consensual rough sex, not even rough sex - just pounding away with a bit of enthusiasm. Its all over the place and it is making me feel sick and these idiot politicians are making people think downplaying this crime is somehow ok.

If any of them actually knew what rape was like or how it can affect you decades later they would shut their mouths and unplug their laptops.

[Nothing2CHere]

3. Forcing someone to do something with their body that they don't want to is violent, which is exactly why rape is considered a violent crime. If the state could force Koster to have his perineum torn or his abdomen cut open against his will, I doubt he'd be cool with that. Even if you consider killing something that isn't capable of being conscious "violent", it is not even remotely comparable to committing violence against a thinking, feeling human being. Apples and oranges, people.

These men must also think that pregnancy is all rainbows and lollipops. Speaking from my own personal experience, I had tons of ultrasounds during my pregnancy, because at first I was being monitored for placenta previa - the placenta had implanted very, very low. Once they determined that was no longer an issue, I had to continue getting ultrasounds because I had developed gestational diabetes. I had to take insulin because of my GD, and it wasn't that I wasn't following a good diet, nothing I did got my blood sugar below the level it was supposed to be in the mornings. During my last two months of pregnancy, I had to visit my OB twice a week for non-stress tests (which meant taking time off from work for each visit). I was miserable, and this was for a wanted baby. Now that baby's here, my already-high (due to family history) chances of developing Type 2 diabetes doubled because of the GD, and my blood pressure is still all out of whack so now I have to take blood pressure meds. Basically, as much as I love him, having my son really fucked up my health. No woman should be forced to go through that if they don't want to, even if "it's only nine months."

[Lady_M]

It seems like every time someone running for elected office says something this stupid, others feel the need to double down on the stupidity.

So he knows someone who kept her pregnancy and didn't regret it? Well, that's the whole point of choice. Certainly nobody I can think of is going to force a rape victim to abort if she doesn't want to. Those who want/need to abort can do so. It's got to be extremely hard to go to term, be obviously pregnant, have people asking when she's due, if it's a boy or a girl, if names are picked out - the kinds of questions well-meaning but oblivious acquaintances and people tend to ask when they see a very pregnant woman. If a woman wants to go to term with a pregnancy conceived in rape, that should absolutely be her prerogative and supported, but women who choose to abort that pregnancy should be supported as well.

[doggie]

This guy is just such a ass it is hard to see how big of one. But I am still waiting for the other shoe when one of these idiots say there is no such thing as rape. I know it will happen it is just a matter of when. I think these idiots are so engrossed in their beliefs they have no clue about real life.

[thoughtful]

The sad thing is republicans shoot their mouths off about rape so much now that someone felt the need to start this website:

http://www.dayswithoutagoprapemention.com/

Here is today's outrage, from that page -- Akin again:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/0 ... 59088.html

:shock:

[shesinsane]

This guy is just such a ass it is hard to see how big of one. But I am still waiting for the other shoe when one of these idiots say there is no such thing as rape. I know it will happen it is just a matter of when. I think these idiots are so engrossed in their beliefs they have no clue about real life.

You sort of already got it with "legitimate rape" and "some girls rape easy". They will always agree that an innocent woman grabbed off the sidewalk and forced to have sex is rape, but it is "so rare".

Drank too much and woke up with a guy on top of you? Not rape (you shouldn't have been drinking).

Went to a guy's apartment to have a drink and he raped you? Not rape (you shouldn't have gone to his apartment).

Wearing a short skirt and sexually assualted? Not rape (you were asking for it with your skimpy clothes). [ /sarcasm]

[YPestis]

The worst reasoning behind the abortion rape prohibition is the marginalization of such acts. The "incest is rare" and "rape almost never results in pregnancy" claims has nothing to do with the abortion debate. Abortion is about terminating a pre-existing pregnancy, not whether it's "rare" for pregnancies to result from nonconsensual sex. It doesn't matter if "the rape thing" is rare or usually don't result in pregnancy. The fact that it CAN and DOES means the question regarding a woman's right to an abortion that results from rape or incest is still relevant.

Furthermore, why do people like to treat pregnancy like it's a wonderful, peaceful time? Pregnancy comes with its own risks. From a medical standpoint, early termination is safer than going through a pregnancy. The argument that abortion is a violent act can work the same way on a pregnancy. 9 months of pregnancy and the actual delivery can also be violent. There's tearing, hemorrhaging, even major surgery (C-section) with all the accompanying complications. Nothing about pregnancy, not it's termination or final delivery, is pleasant. The argument should focus on whether a woman should be allowed to make that decision to control how her body deals with a pregnancy. Should we tie down a woman and force her to have medical procedures done to "protect the unborn"? Should we jail women who refuse to care for the pregnancy because they really want to terminate it? Should we arrest women who are suspected to have had a hand in ending their pregnancy? Obamacare has nothing on how invasive criminalizing abortion can be.

What I can't understand is how can people who so hate gov't interference, who detest any gov't hand in medicine, are so adamant about letting gov't interfere with the idea of abortion? Oh, I know. Because only whores and sluts need abortions. Their moral, upstanding wives, sisters and daughters will never need it. Therefore, abortion isn't about protecting the helpless, it's about punishing promiscuous women. Pregnancy from rape/incest are so "rare" we don't need to worry about those things. *hand waves*

Americans are middle of the road with their abortion stance. The majority believe abortion should be legal for medical reasons and for rape/incest. I know that there is a vocal contingent that believe fetal deformity should not be a reason, and many who believe abortion for non-medical, consensual sex should be illegal. It baffles me why politicians are scrambling to be so right-wing about the abortion debate? It's like like saying rape victims should be forced to carry their pregnancies is popular with the general population. I can only guess that they are playing to their (very) conservative base who have little understanding of abortion, rape or the hypocrisy of yelling for less gov't but voting on policies which support an Orwellian medical oversight.

[RosyDaisy]

What I can't understand is how can people who so hate gov't interference, who detest any gov't hand in medicine, are so adamant about letting gov't interfere with the idea of abortion?

It's about controlling women, that's why.

[SquirrelySquirrel]

All I hear is "that slut had it coming" when these idiots open their mouths. That's what they're really saying, isn't it? She asked for it, she deserved it, she didn't really say 'no,' etc, etc, etc. Never any mention of the rapist, who is the only one in the wrong in these situations.