Just when we thought we wouldn’t hear much more on the subject of rape from GOP lawmakers, one West Virginia delegate decided to chime in. How, do you ask? By essentially insinuating that rape is beautiful because a child can result from it.
In a public hearing last Thursday, Brian Kurbaca (R) stated that, “obviously rape is awful… what’s beautiful is the child that could come from this.”
The West Virginia House of Delegates was trying to pass the ‘Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act’, which would make abortion illegal 20 weeks after fertilization. The bill is stipulated on the belief that after 20 weeks, a fetus is capable of feeling pain, which is largely scientifically inaccurate. The American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecologists has repeatedly called the bill into question, stating that, “fetal perception of pain is unlikely before the 3rd trimester.”
Although three Democratic representatives at the hearing attempted to amend the bill with an exception for victims of rape or incest, most party members opposed this amendment in deliberation. Kurbaca was one of those members.
Perhaps we shouldn’t be so surprised at the audacity of GOP lawmakers to make these kinds of statements, especially when a large amount of anti-abortion legislation has passed between 2011 and 2013. But after making comments like this one, far-right Republicans like Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock received pretty negative reviews from both democratic and republican party supporters. Mourdock ultimately lost his Senate race after saying that pregnancies resulting from rape are “a gift from God.”
You’d think the GOP would have a thing or two to learn after occasions like these, especially after political consultants have spoken to several party members regarding tactics to discuss rape, and the party as a whole has been discouraged from even mentioning their views on the subject from GOP pollster Kellyanne Conway. It’s really high time GOP lawmakers stop making comments like this, and stop deciding what women can or can’t do with their bodies based on pseudo-science and biblical quotation marks.
Image via Addicting Info, giphy
