GOP Governor Nominee: Having Baby Could Be 'Healing' For Teen Rape Victims

Michigan candidate Tudor Dixon has said she would not support legal abortion for a hypothetical 14-year-old rape survivor.
LOADINGERROR LOADING

Michigan’s Republican gubernatorial nominee said she does not support abortion being legal even for child rape victims, suggesting that having the baby could be “healing.”

In a segment aired Friday, Fox 2 news anchor Roop Raj asked Tudor Dixon, who has been vocal about her anti-abortion views, where she stands “when it comes to rape, incest and life of the mother.”

Dixon said she supports exceptions if a woman’s life is in danger, though she added that the “health of the mother and life of the mother are two different things.” Raj then asked specifically about rape and incest, providing the hypothetical example of a 14-year-old girl who has been raped.

“Why not allow that person to have an abortion?” he asked.

Dixon replied that her stance came from talking to rape survivors who have given birth, as well as people who are the children of rape survivors.

“I’ve talked to those people who were the child of a rape victim, and the bond that those two people made, and the fact that out of that tragedy there was healing through that baby — it’s something that we don’t think about,” she said.

Tudor Dixon is pictured at a primary election party in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Tudor Dixon is pictured at a primary election party in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Dixon, who has received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, had come under fire from Democrats last month after saying she would not support an abortion exception for a hypothetical 14-year-old who had been raped by an uncle.

In the fall, Dixon is set to face incumbent Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whose campaign has emphasized protecting abortion rights.

Earlier this year, Whitmer sued to prevent the potential enforcement of a dormant abortion law from 1931, which banned the procedure but allowed exceptions to “preserve the life” of the mother.

The 1931 law was overridden by the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973. When the Roe decision was overturned this year, a state judge issued a temporary injunction blocking the 1931 ban from going into effect. On Friday, another judge blocked county prosecutors from enforcing the law for the foreseeable future.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot