With the Supreme Court’s decision to dismantle the right to an abortion, Republicans now have to answer an uncomfortable question: What do they think should happen when minors become pregnant and abortion is no longer an option?
The issue came to the fore in Ohio, when a pregnant 10-year-old girl reportedly had to be taken out of state to terminate her pregnancy as a result of being raped. Abortion rights advocates say the case is just a preview of what is to come as more states move to restrict the practice.
That, in turn, has led to Republicans facing questions on what they propose doing in similar situations, and brought renewed focus on a reported years-old statement by Oklahoma’s Sen. James Lankford (R) that he thought 13-year-old girls were capable of giving consent to sex.
On Sunday, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, considered a rising star in the Republican Party, defended her state’s new almost-total abortion ban, which has no exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.
Pressed by CNN on whether the Ohio girl should be forced to bear a child, Noem said, “Every single life is precious.”
“I don’t believe a tragic situation should be perpetuated by another tragedy,” she said.
In Mississippi, the speaker of the state House, Rep. Philip Gunn (R) said within hours of the Supreme Court decision that abortion should remain illegal, even in the hypothetical case of a 12-year-old victim of incest.
Gunn said the Mississippi law does not include an exception for incest and he did not think the state legislature should revisit that issue.
“I believe life begins at conception. Every life is valuable. And those are my personal beliefs,” he told reporters.
“Every single life is precious.”
– South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R), when asked if a 10-year-old should be forced to bear a child.
Some Republican lawmakers are shying away from focusing on abortion, recognizing that it’s a political issue that could backfire for them in the midterm elections. But Sen. James Lankford (Okla.) has been more vocal, even raising the possibility of banning abortion nationwide at six weeks into a pregnancy.
That stance has shed new light on comments he reportedly made in 2010 ― four years before becoming a senator ― when asked during a civil trial deposition if he believed a 13-year-old could consent to sex. “Yes, I think they can,” he replied, according to a transcript obtained by The Associated Press.
When asked if he also thought that “in…
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