GOP Makes No Abortion Exception For Rape, Incest

The Republican Party's platform will include language calling for a constitutional amendment against abortion, leaving out any mention of exceptions for cases of rape or incest.

Even as the Republican establishment continued to call for Representative Todd Akin of Missouri to drop out of his Senate race because of his comments on rape and abortion, Republicans approved platform language on Tuesday calling for a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion with no explicit exceptions for cases of rape or incest.

• Todd Akins: "Legit Rape Victims Don't Get Pregnant
• Legitimate Rape Songs
• Men who Father Through Rape can Exercise Custodial Rights

High-ranking GOP officials fear Akin's inflammatory comments about rape have sunk his chances of winning the Senate race and may also sink Republicans' hopes of taking control of the Senate. Akin has until 6 p.m. ET today to withdraw, but he's shown no signs of budging despite a last minute barrage of pleas by Republican senators and four former senators from Missouri.

Instead, Akin posted an online video seeking "forgiveness" for saying that women rarely get pregnant from what he called "legitimate rape."

And he went on the Huckabee show for a second day in a row to insist that he will not quit the race.

Photos

Mitt Romney’s Abortion Business Made Him $50M

see larger image

uploaded by karenfish

"Faithful to the 'self-evident' truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed," the draft platform declares. "We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children."

The party will also reaffirm its opposition to federally-funded stem cell research and demand that the government "should not fund or subsidize health care which includes abortion coverage."

The timing of the approval of the Republican anti-abortion plank was awkward for Mitt Romney, who has denounced Mr. Akin’s comments about rape and abortion and who has said that he supports exceptions to allow abortions in cases of rape. And it comes as his selection of his running mate, Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, was already drawing scrutiny for his support for a more absolute ban on abortions, even in cases of rape or incest. 


After this year’s abortion plank language was approved with little debate, the chairman of the platform committee, Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia, praised the committee for “affirming our respect for human life” and for doing so expeditiously.