The accompanying text at NBCNews says "In Illinois the war over women is being fought by a woman with combat experience, Democratic congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth who is running against Republican Rep. Joe Walsh. Walsh said there was no need for exceptions on an abortion ban, even for the life of the mother." It seems to me Joe Walsh picked the wrong person to get in this fight with, as you'll see in the video from last night on The Last Word.
via The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell:
Tammy Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran running for a congressional seat in Illinois’ 8th district, responded to opponent Rep. Joe Walsh’s controversial commentson abortion rights.
“I think he’s taking biology lessons from Todd Akin,” the Purple Heart recipient told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell during an appearance on The Last Word.
Walsh falsely claimed women do not die from pregnancies because of “advances in science and technology” and the exception for the life of the mother has become “a tool for abortions at any time under any reason.”
During a press conference on Friday, the anti-abortion incumbent somewhat walked back his original statement:
“When it comes to having an abortion to save the life of the mother, I will say again that outside of the very rare circumstances, such as ectopic pregnancies, during which both the mother and baby will die if the baby is not aborted, and other rare health issues and circumstances, the research is pretty clear that with the advances in modern medicine an invasive and traumatic procedure like abortion is often, thankfully, not necessary to save the life of a mother.”
Duckworth, who calls herself pro-choice without restrictions, said at Thursday’s debate that her opponent “would let a woman die rather than give the doctor the option to save her life.”