Congresswoman Jackie Speier is reminding her male colleagues to stay out of Americans’ bedrooms and to get away from women’s bodies in light of recent comments on rape and abortion made by Senate candidate Richard Mourdock.
“In 1973 with Roe v. Wade, it was made very clear that government should not be in the bedrooms of couples; governments should not be in women’s bodies; government should not be engaging in this kind of activity,” Rep. Jackie Speier, told msnbc’s Thomas Roberts Wednesday.
In defending his views on limited access to abortions, Senate candidate Richard Mourdock suggested during a debate Tuesday that God “intended” a baby should be born even in cases of rape.
“I believe that life begins at conception. The only exception I have for — to have an abortion in that case is for the life of the mother. I just — I struggled with it for a long time but I came to realize life is a gift from God and I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”
Mourdock has become the third GOP candidate to make a comment about abortion and cause an uproar among women right’s advocates. Rep. Todd Akin said “legitimate rape” rarely results in pregnancy and Rep. Joe Walsh said abortion is never medically necessary.
Speier is known for a passionate speech she gave on the House floor regarding her second trimester, medically necessary abortion.
The congresswoman also expressed her unhappiness with the GOP’s overall position on abortion. “There’s a problem in the Republican Party. They do not support abortion,” she said. “They are somehow trying to undermine it, and even in cases of rape they are at such an extreme position that women in this country should be very fearful of what would happen should the majority of the House remain with Republicans and Mitt Romney gets elected.” Although Mitt Romney has distanced himself from Mourdock, he has yet to pull his endorsement. “I think Mitt Romney talks out of all sides of his mouth, and I think the result is he will say anything that will get him elected,” Speier said. “ In the case of abortion, I think there’s reason to believe he would probably embrace Mr. Mourdock and embrace the personhood amendment…and that’s bad for women in this country.”
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