Top GOP congressman brags about making rape victims have babies

Minority Whip Steve Scalise, the second-highest ranking Republican in the House, bragged about his support for banning abortion without making exceptions for women or girls who become pregnant as a result of rape.

During a Tuesday press conference, a reporter asked Scalise whether he supported Alabama’s new anti-choice law — an extreme piece of legislation that outlaws abortion at every stage of pregnancy, even in cases of rape or incest.

Scalise began by saying that he was “proud” to come from Louisiana because it is often rated as the “most pro-life state in the nation.”

“When I served in the [Louisiana] state legislature, we had a bill to protect people and say that abortion should be illegal, and we had an exception for the life of the mother, and I voted for that bill when I was in the state legislature,” Scalise said.

The reporter then pressed him to be clear on whether he supported other exceptions, including a rape or incest scenario.

“In Louisiana when we had the bill when I was in the state legislature, I voted for the bill that banned abortion except in the case of protecting life of the mother. That was the only exception,” he replied.

Scalise’s support echoes the Republican Party’s official platform, which does not allow for rape or incest exemptions.

It’s important to note that abortion is health care for people who need or want to end a pregnancy, and that no one should be granted or denied health care based on whether they were raped. But even when lawmakers do make exceptions for rape and incest when restricting abortion, those exceptions often don’t work in practice.

During his answer, Scalise also repeated untrue and dangerous GOP talking points that falsely accuse Democrats of wanting to legalize infanticide. In reality, Democrats in states like New York and Virginia have simply voted to make it easier for doctors to do their job in the rare, dangerous case that a woman needs a later abortion in order to protect her health or life.

Scalise’s rhetoric echoed that of others in his party who use lies about Democrats to distract from the extreme restrictions on women’s rights that Republicans are pushing for.

It’s clear that Republican leaders are determined to force women and girls to give birth against their will, no matter what.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.