Joining the ranks of Mourdock, Akin, and dozens of other Republican politicians making horrifying comments about women’s rights and bodies, we now have Republican candidate for Congress John Koster and the “Rape Thing” (which sounds like the worst band ever).

Here are his comments in full:

“When a mother’s life is in danger … I’m not going to make that decision…Incest is so rare, I mean, it’s so rare. But the rape thing, you know, I know a woman who was raped and kept her child, gave it up for adoption. She doesn’t regret it. In fact, she is a big pro-life proponent.”

When asked about whether a woman should be subjected to the consequences of the crime, he fondly responded:

“On the rape thing, it’s like, how does putting more violence onto a woman’s body and taking the life of an innocent child that’s the consequence of this crime, how does that make it better? You know what I mean?”

Yes, more on the “rape thing.”

The David Pakman Show, a political and news podcast, radio show, and Youtube show recently compiled a video (see below) of all the terrible comments about rape that have been uttered this year.

Two that stand out are representative King from Iowa. When asked about young incest survivors becoming pregnant, he claimed:

“I haven’t heard of that being a circumstance that’s been brought to me in any personal way, but I’d be open to discussion about that subject matter.”

Newsflash: you may not know what the word “teratoid” means, you may not know that “criadillas” is a Spanish cuisine of bull’s testicles. However, just because you do not know something, just because you have never experienced it, does not make it any less real.

Republican Senate candidate Tom Smith owns the second comment, spewing that he had lived “something similar to that [rape].”

When pressed further by the reporter, he admitted that a woman he knew had a baby out of wedlock and decided not to abort it. He defended himself by saying “Put yourself in a father’s position. Yes, it is similar.”

No. Sorry.

You can talk about the “rape thing,” wipe away the trauma of incest survivors (since it is oh so rare), or compare having a baby out of wedlock to being violated and impregnated by a criminal, but maybe next time, Republican politicians, you should think before opening your mouths.

Written by Nicole Del Casale

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