PoliticsMitch McConnellPoliticsIndiana Senate

Richard Mourdock Backed By GOP Leaders Mitch McConnell, John McCain After Rape Remarks [UPDATE]

GOP Rallies Round Richard Mourdock Despite Rape Remarks
Open Image Modal
By 

Senior Congressional Reporter, HuffPost

|

WASHINGTON -- After initially keeping Richard Mourdock at arm's length for his assertion that pregnancies produced by rape are intended by God, prominent Republicans rallied around the embattled Indiana Senate candidate.

Top among them was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whose chances of taking over the Senate next year could be sunk by Mourdock's intemperate remarks.

"It's incredibly irresponsible for anyone to take what Richard said about his views on life to demean his opposition to the detestable act of rape," McConnell said in a statement printed in Kentucky's Courier-Journal.

"We're at the end of an election season here and I understand each side is looking to make hay out of every comment, but sharing the view of millions of Americans that life begins at conception is Richard's deeply held personal belief that shouldn't be misconstrued by partisans to imply something it does not," McConnell said in the statement released late Wednesday.

In a debate on Tuesday, Mourdock had declared, "I came to realize life is that gift from God. I think that even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen."

Mourdock later sought to clarify that he meant only that the baby's life was a holy gift, not that God intended women to be raped. The Indiana state treasurer apologized for how people had interpreted his words and specified that he was not apologizing for the sentiments themselves.

Perhaps more startling than McConnell's support was Sen. John McCain's announcement. The Arizona Republican, who had withdrawn his backing of Mourdock Wednesday night, backtracked Thursday in a statement from his office that said McCain was satisfied with the "apology."

"Senator McCain is glad that Mr. Mourdock apologized to the people of Indiana and clarified his previous statement," said McCain spokesman Brian Rogers. "Senator McCain hopes the people of Indiana will elect Mr. Mourdock to the U.S. Senate."

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) added his support for Mourdock at a campaign stop in Wisconsin, saying that a rape ending in a pregnancy was "horrifying" and that Mourdock's comments were a reminder to talk about such issues more carefully.

"I think the candidate, Treasurer Mourdock, was right to apologize to anyone who was offended, and I think he was right [on] where he stood on it," Rubio said. "It's unfortunate it happened."

Even the GOP presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, who had at first distanced himself from Mourdock, declined to withdraw support and refused Thursday to answer questions about the Indiana candidate.

Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, hedged a bit on Mourdock, but ultimately backed him. "He's obviously trying to clarify it as best as he can. ... It was pretty clumsy stuff. I mean, rape is rape and there's nothing OK about it," Priebus said in Arlington, Va. "Anything you say that gives credence, or you're vague or fuzzy, or you're compounding sentences -- I mean, it was a problem for him so now he's fixing it, and hopefully he's clarifying what he meant to say."

The rally round Mourdock stands in stark contrast to how the GOP reacted when another one of its Senate candidates, Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), declared that women could not become pregnant from "legitimate rape." Akin offered a fuller apology than Mourdock did, yet the GOP establishment called on him to quit. McConnell declared then that sorry was not sufficient, and the party still has not returned to the Missouri race.

In the Indiana case, however, Election Day is less than two weeks away, and Mourdock's ill-timed comments could hurt not only his race, but Republican candidates elsewhere. Many of those candidates have chosen to condemn Mourdock's remarks.

Democrats, meanwhile, have sought to press their advantage. President Barack Obama's campaign called on Romney to do more than disagree with Mourdock, releasing a video that cast Romney as equally extreme. "Mitt Romney's solution to 'extremism' against women? Promote the extremists," the video says.

Former GOP White House contender Jon Huntsman also said that Romney should disavow Mourdock.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee blasted out releases in a half-dozen states, saying that even those GOP candidates who condemned Mourdock's remarks are bound to him because they've accepted cash from joint fundraisers with Mourdock.

One of them, Ohio state Treasurer Josh Mandel, later weighed in for Mourdock, saying that he had apologized and calling him "a class act."

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee also announced a $1.1 million ad buy, seeking to further exploit the political opening with a spot featuring Mourdock's debate answer.

For his part, Mourdock told reporters Thursday that he believed that the furor would pass quickly and that rather than hurting him, it has helped. Asked if he had gained voter support as a result, he said, "I know I did," according to IndyStar.com.

This story has been updated with a new Democratic ad featuring Richard Mourdock and comments from Sen. Marco Rubio and Mourdock.

Michael McAuliff covers Congress and politics for The Huffington Post. Talk to him on Facebook.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story indicated incorrectly that Sen. Mitch McConnell's statement in support of Richard Mourdock was released Thursday. It was released Wednesday.

Support HuffPost

At HuffPost, we believe that everyone needs high-quality journalism, but we understand that not everyone can afford to pay for expensive news subscriptions. That is why we are committed to providing deeply reported, carefully fact-checked news that is freely accessible to everyone.

Whether you come to HuffPost for updates on the 2024 presidential race, hard-hitting investigations into critical issues facing our country today, or trending stories that make you laugh, we appreciate you. The truth is, news costs money to produce, and we are proud that we have never put our stories behind an expensive paywall.

Would you join us to help keep our stories free for all? Your will go a long way.

Support HuffPost

Before You Go

Lies GOP Tells About Women's Bodies
Birth Control Causes Prostate Cancer(01 of09)
Open Image Modal
Earlier this year, a New Hampshire lawmaker came up with a new reason the government should not require health insurance companies to provide contraception. "As a man, would it interest you to know that Dr. Brownstein just published an article that links the pill to prostate cancer?" state Rep. Jeanine Notter (R) asked a male representative at the hearing, the Merrimack Patch reports. "In the children that are born from these women?" he asked. Notter could not clearly explain the study or how the pill results in prostate cancer. The study described in the newsletter of Dr. David Brownstein, a physician and holistic practitioner in Michigan, suggests men may ingest estrogen through environmental contamination, not in utero from mothers taking birth control. An author of the study told ABC News, "This is just a hypothesis-generating idea. Women should not be throwing away the pill because of this." (credit:AP)
Abortion Causes Breast Cancer(02 of09)
Open Image Modal
The New Hampshire House in 2012 passed a bill that would require doctors to tell women seeking abortions that the procedure can cause breast cancer. Here is an excerpt from the bill, sponsored by Notter:
Materials that inform the pregnant woman that there is a direct link between abortion and breast cancer. It is scientifically undisputed that full-term pregnancy reduces a woman's lifetime risk of breast cancer. It is also undisputed that the earlier a woman has a first full-term pregnancy, the lower her risk of breast cancer becomes, because following a full-term pregnancy the breast tissue exposed to estrogen through the menstrual cycle is more mature and cancer resistant. In fact, for each year that a woman's first full-term pregnancy is delayed, her risk of breast cancer rises 3.5 percent. The theory that there is a direct link between abortion and breast cancer builds upon this undisputed foundation. During the first and second trimesters of pregnancy the breasts develop merely by duplicating immature tissues. Once a woman passes the thirty-second week of pregnancy (third trimester), the immature cells develop into mature cancer resistant cells. When an abortion ends a normal pregnancy, the woman is left with more immature breast tissue than she had before she was pregnant.
There is no link between abortions and breast cancer, according to the World Health Organization, the American Cancer Society and other major health organizations. Similar provisions requiring doctors to make the abortion-breast cancer connection remain on the books in other state laws. Alaska, Kansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas all inaccurately assert a risk in written counseling materials, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a New York-based reproductive health research organization. (credit:AP)
Birth Control Is A Sex Pill(03 of09)
Open Image Modal
Rush Limbaugh showed he has no understanding of how birth control pills work when he attacked Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown law student barred from testifying as a Democratic witness at a congressional hearing about the Obama administration's contraception policy. Limbaugh called Fluke a "slut" for needing lots of birth control to manage her sex life. "She wants to be paid to have sex," Limbaugh said. "She's having so much sex she can't afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex."Rick Santorum has also said that contraception encourages a bad kind of sex. Last year, in an interview with the Evangelical blog Caffeinated Thoughts, Santorum warned of the "dangers of contraception:"
"It's not OK because it's a license to do things in the sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be. They're supposed to be within marriage, they are supposed to be for purposes that are, yes, conjugal, but also [inaudible], but also procreative. That's the perfect way that a sexual union should happen. We take any part of that out, we diminish the act."
Most women who have had sex have used contraception. Birth control pills -- which are taken daily, regardless of how frequently a woman has sex -- may also be taken to manage endometriosis, ovarian cysts, acne or other health problems. A bill in Arizona proposed penalizing women who use the pill for non-medical reasons. (credit:AP)
Abortion Industry Is 'Selling Abortions'(04 of09)
Open Image Modal
A Republican state legislator in Arizona wrote in an email to a constituent earlier this year that she wanted to force women seeking abortions to watch the procedure first. "Personally I'd like to make a law that mandates a woman watch an abortion being performed prior to having a 'surgical procedure,'" state Rep. Terri Proud (R) wrote. The constituent responded by email that she was "speechless" and after a baffling exchange with Proud, released the emails to the media. Facing national outrage, Proud issued a statement:
For too long, Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry have placed selling abortions above the health and safety of women. My message to a constituent last week emphasized my concerns with how abortion providers have not been honest with women about the realities of abortion, and the short and long-term risks of this dangerous surgical procedure.
The notion that Planned Parenthood baits women into unwanted pregnancies by providing ineffective contraception then profits off the abortions is nothing new, but it's as outrageous as it sounds. Abortions constitute 3 percent of Planned Parenthood's services, and the organization estimates it prevents more than 220,000 abortions each year by providing contraception. Because Planned Parenthood is not allowed to use federal funds for abortions, defunding the program may limit contraception services and result in more abortions.
Women Can't Get Pregnant From Rape(05 of09)
Open Image Modal
Just before Idaho's Senate withdrew a mandatory ultrasound bill in March, a Republican bill sponsor made some startling comments about abortion and rape. "Rape and incest was used as a reason to oppose this," said state Sen. Chuck Winder (R). "I would hope that when a woman goes in to a physician with a rape issue, that physician will indeed ask her about perhaps her marriage, was this pregnancy caused by normal relations in a marriage or was it truly caused by a rape. I assume that's part of the counseling that goes on."It wasn't the first time a lawmaker has suggested that women seeking abortions may lie about rape. Some anti-abortion activists actually believe that rape cannot result in pregnancy. Buzzfeed dug up a series of bizarre statements Republicans have made about pregnancy, rape, juices not flowing and more. Here's one:
The odds that a woman who is raped will get pregnant are "one in millions and millions and millions," said state Rep. Stephen Freind, R-Delaware County, the Legislature's leading abortion foe.
The reason, Freind said, is that the traumatic experience of rape causes a woman to "secrete a certain secretion" that tends to kill sperm.
Two Philadelphia doctors specializing in human reproduction characterized Freind's contention as scientifically baseless.
According to Planned Parenthood, about 5 percent of rapes result in pregnancy, and providing all rape victims with emergency contraception could prevent more than 22,000 unwanted pregnancies a year.Correction: A previous version of this text misstated the status of Idaho's mandatory ultrasound bill legislation. Lawmakers ultimately decided to table the measure. (credit:AP)
Prenatal Testing Leads To Abortion(06 of09)
Open Image Modal
Former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum made prenatal testing a campaign issue in February when he declared the tests are designed to "cull the ranks of the disabled in our society" by encouraging abortions. "Amniocentesis does, in fact, result more often than not in this country in abortions," Santorum, who has a severely disabled daughter, said on "Face the Nation." "That is a fact."In fact, more than 90 percent of amniocenteses tests result in normal diagnoses, and half of fetuses diagnosed with severe abnormalities -- about 5 percent of those tested -- are aborted, according to PolitiFact. A campaign spokeswoman for Obama condemned Santorum's comments as "misinformed and dangerous" and pointed out that the tests help women have safer deliveries and healthier babies. (credit:AP)
HPV Vaccine Causes Retardation(07 of09)
Open Image Modal
Back when Rick Perry was campaigning for president, his rivals attacked him for signing an executive order mandating the human papillomavirus vaccine for young girls, and misinformation quickly spread. Michele Bachmann insinuated that the vaccine causes mental retardation, while Santorum spoke out against "having little girls inoculated at the force and compulsion of the government."The vaccine is safe and effective in preventing cervical cancer caused by certain strains of HPV, and Perry's 2007 executive order, which was overturned by the state legislature, would have allowed parents to opt out of having their daughters vaccinated. Dr. Renata Arrington-Sanders, a professor at Johns Hopkins University medical school, told HuffPost's Laura Bassett:
"The HPV vaccine has been shown to be safe and well-tolerated based on multiple medical reports that have been submitted through government databases. It's unfortunate that this particular vaccine is surrounded by a lot of controversy just because it's been labeled as an STD-prevention vaccine. We have similar vaccines, such as one for hepatitis B, that are also used in a mandated approach and have shown very successful rates with prevention."
 (credit:AP)
Plan B Causes Abortions(08 of09)
Open Image Modal
The debate over the Obama administration's contraception policy has yielded some puzzling claims about birth control and Plan B. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) addressed the House in February, urging his colleagues to reverse Obama's mandate for health insurance coverage of "abortion-inducing drugs:"
In recent days, Americans of every faith and political persuasion have mobilized in objection to a rule put forward by the Obama administration that constitutes an unambiguous attack on religious freedom in our country. This rule would require faith-based employers -- including Catholic charities, schools, universities, and hospitals -- to provide services they believe are immoral. Those services include sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs and devices, and contraception.
Michele Bachmann called Plan B an abortion pill when she incorrectly criticized Obama for making the drug available over-the-counter -- an FDA recommendation the administration and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius rejected last year. "The president can put abortion pills for girls 8 years of age, 11 years of age, on the bubblegum aisle," Bachmann said at a "pro-life" town hall in December. Contraceptives, emergency or not, prevent pregnancy. They don't cause abortions. Plan B works in the same way and with the same ingredients as birth control pills, just at a higher dosage, and does nothing to stop the development of a fetus. (credit:AP)
Your Fetus Is Just Fine(09 of09)
Open Image Modal
The Arizona Senate passed a bill in March to protect doctors from "wrongful birth" lawsuits -- effectively allowing them to withhold information that may lead a patient to get an abortion. HuffPost's John Celock reports:
Sen. Nancy Barto (R-Phoenix) told the Claims Journal that she sponsored the law because she did not want claimants to blame a doctor for a baby born with disabilities. Under the provisions of her bill, a doctor could not be sued for medical malpractice if the doctor withholds information from a mother about a child's potential health issues that could influence her decision to have an abortion. In addition, a lawsuit could not be filed on the child's behalf regarding a disability.
Kansas lawmakers have considered similar legislation. (credit:Getty)
Suggest a correction
|
Submit a tip