The race for California’s newly redrawn 1st Congressional District is not expected to be close. The district, north of Sacramento, is heavily Republican. The retiring representative, Republican Wally Herger, has held the seat since 1987, and he tapped (adding: now former) Republican State Senator Doug LaMalfa to replace him. The Sacramento Bee says LaMalfa is “considered a shoo-in.”
At a debate last night sponsored by the Tea Party, LaMalfa made a brief and adventurous detour into what you might loosely call science. As viewer Lori Taylor of Junction City, California, put it, he told the crowd that women who have abortions are more likely to get cancer. When local station KRCR pressed LaMalfa on that, he stood by his position, saying:
“Research has shown there that there’s higher level of incidence at risk so i would want women to be fully informed of all the aspects before making a decision like that … I think that shows more care for women then by simply shuffling them off to an abortion mill and so that’s a very important distinction that needs to be made.”
For the record, the theory LaMalfa has now worked into his congressional campaign is, in scientific terms, nonsense.
(We love when people send hometown news, pics, etc.) UPDATE: LaMalfa’s campaign sent out a correction today. From the Sacramento paper: “After last night’s debate I checked the most recent research on the question of a link between abortion and cancer and found that current research does not support the conclusion that abortion causes cancer,” [LaMalfa] said in the statement. “I hope that any woman considering this procedure discusses all the health consequences with her doctor and makes a fully informed decision.”
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