The party just can’t help itself.
Another Republican congressman ventured into the realm of rape and pregnancy Wednesday, saying at a committee hearing that incidences of pregnancy from rape are “very low.”
Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), whose measure banning abortions after 20 weeks was being considered in the House Judiciary Committee, argued against a Democratic amendment to make exceptions for rape and incest by suggesting that pregnancy from rape is rare.
“The incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low,” Franks said.
Please, Mr. Franks, tell us more. How many rapes do you think lead to pregnancies? Do you think women have ways of shutting that whole thing down? Why do you want to punish the women who fall into this category you consider inconsequentially small?
“I just find it astonishing to hear a phrase repeated that the incidence of pregnancy from rape is low,” Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said at the hearing. “There’s no scientific basis for that. And the idea that the Republican men on this committee can tell the women of America that they have to carry to term the product of a rape is outrageous.”
The Republican-led Judiciary Committee, not surprisingly, rejected the rape and incest exceptions — all of the GOP members on the committee are conservative men — but not before Franks could share his perspective on the issue.
Remember earlier this year, when a top GOP pollster advised Republicans to consider rape a “four-letter word“? Apparently, it’s taking a while for the message to sink in.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."