GOP 2012 hopefuls take every opportunity to proudly proclaim their anti-choice positions. Mike Huckabee would take away a woman's reproductive choice and make no exception for rape. Sarah Palin literally said she'd force her daughter to give birth after a rape.
Keep that in mind as you read this story, continuing to unfold, of an 11 year old Texas girl gang raped by 19 boys and men, repeatedly, over a two and a half month period last year.
Had this poor child gotten pregnant, Presidents Palin and Huckabee would force birth upon her.
As abhorrent a thought it is to force a birth by rape or incest, it seems to be the default position for high profile Republican candidates for office.
Remember this gem from Sharon Angle? When responding to a question seeking clarification that she saw NO acceptable reason for an abortion, not even rape or incest, she answered "God has a plan and purpose" for these pregnancies.
Here is the logic of these leading lights of Republican politics. Abortion is against God's will and is therefore a crime (not to mention sin). God has a plan and purpose for these pregnancies. Man has no place interfering with God's will.
So, what happens if I take their arguments to their logical conclusion? If it is God's will that these pregnancies occur, it must also be God's will for the rapes to occur. And since it is God's will, it can't be a crime, can it?
What a comforting thought for the 250,000 victims who are raped and sexual assaulted each year.
Maintaining reproductive choice and ensuring access to reproductive care aren't mere rights kept in reserve "just in case." "Just in case" happens every day. Do we really live in a society that would tolerate forcing birth by rape of an 11 year old child? How can any politician advocating this be taken seriously? And why aren't they asked to defend this wicked punishment every day?