Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who is once again running for president, takes his anti-abortion stance to the most extreme, opposing the practice even in cases of rape and incest. In an interview with CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, the Republican said he agrees with the extent to which Paraguay took its law, recently preventing a 10-year-old girl from getting an abortion after she was raped by her stepfather.
As ThinkProgress points out, Huckabee and other anti-choice activists would like to support laws like Paraguay's, which prohibits abortion except in cases where the mother's life is in danger. Even though the rape victim was only 11 when she gave birth, the risk to her health was not deemed enough to warrant termination of the pregnancy, and she underwent a Cesarean section. Remember, we're talking abut an 11-year-old having a C-section.
Asked by CNN's Dana Bash if he could look a 10-year-old girl in the eye and tell her she'd have to carry a child for nine months after her rape, Huckabee acknowledged it would be difficult.
"We sometimes miss the fact that when an abortion happens there are two victims," he continued. "One is the child, the other is that birth mother, who often will go through extraordinary guilt years later when she begins to think through what happened. There are no easy answers here. And I realize there will be some people who will be very different in their view of this than me, and I respect that."
While Huckabee says he respects that others differ in opinion, but the reality is his policies and potential Supreme Court appointments (should he be elected President) would strongly impact women whose future "guilt" he wants to prevent. A 2011 Gallup poll showed only 22 percent of Americans would support outlawing abortion in cases of rape.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT