During a debate on Tuesday night, Indiana GOP Senate candidate Richard Mourdock said that women who have been raped should be required to carry resulting pregnancies to term because the pregnancy is "a gift from God" that "God intended to happen."
His statement in full [VIDEO]: "I believe life begins at conception. The only exception I have for to have an abortion is in the case of the life of the mother. I struggled with myself for a long time but I came to realize life is that gift from God, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape. It is something that God intended to happen."
In response to Mourdock's remarks, Feminist Majority President Eleanor Smeal said, "Does Mourdock mean that God intended for that rape to happen, and for it to result in a pregnancy? Is the next step not to prosecute the rapist, and to free the woman and force her to marry the rapist? This is not so far-fetched, and is happening in Afghanistan and Morocco. Such religious extremism threatens women's lives -- in fact, threatens all of our lives, and religious freedom itself."
Media Resources: Think Progress 10/23/12; Washington Post 10/24/12
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