Mourdock's choice of words
Note: I sent a much shorter version of this to the Indianapolis Star.
The outrage over Richard Mourdock's remarks on abortion is completely overblown and there is a great deal of misinformation (not to mention outright lies) about what he actually said.
Let's get this clear: Mourdock never said rape is God's will. He was articulating his conviction that all human life should be protected, regardless of the circumstances of contraception.
Could Mourdock have worded his statement better? Yes. But who among us has not worded something poorly, wishing we could have explained ourselves more articulately? Come on, folks. Mourdock was asked a question and he answered it honestly. Don't we all complain about politicians always speaking in platitudes and not being honest with the voters?
The Indianapolis Star can sit on its carefully crafted moral high ground looking down on Mourdock for his choice of words, but it's easy to do that when you have copy editors and the ability to have your story go into print hours or even a full day after it is written.
Mourdock's position is intellectually and morally consistent. If the unborn child is a human being made in the image of God, why should it be acceptable to kill that child because of his father's crime? Of course, it isn't.
Of course, that's not the spin we're getting from the Left, who pretend to be shocked at this "new" position. Rachel Maddow said this on October 24 regarding the 2010 mid-term elections:
"(Republicans) ran five different candidates for the United States Senate that year who blew through what was previously even the anti-abortion movement's rough consensus - that even if you did want to make abortion a criminal offense in America, you would at least not force that government decision on women who got pregnant though rape."
That has never been the position of the anti-abortion movement, and Maddow knows it. Allowing for the rape exception has traditionally been the position of Republican candidates for elective office, but those people are not and have never been the same as the anti-abortion movement. Maddow must think no informed conservatives listen to her show, so she will never be called on it.
The reality here is that Joe Donnelly and his supporters are harping on a non-issue to distract from the facts. The fact of the matter is that of 1.2 million abortions, only 2% are due to rape. We're talking about a small number here.
While Donnelly and his supporters whine about how "extreme" Mourdock is, we should examine who the real extremists are. It has been well-documented that Barack Obama voted against a bill to criminalize infanticide. Donnelly supports Obama. Who is extreme here?
Let's also not forget that the Obama regime has used ObamaCare as a vehicle to issue regulations to force Christian parachurch organizations to distribute birth control, including abortifacient drugs. You can be confident that will extend to paying for surgical abortions as well, should Obama be re-elected.
Donnelly is desperately hoping that Mourdock's less than optimal choice of words to describe his position on protecting life will distract from his own record and his own positions. I hope Hoosiers are intelligent enough to reject this obvious red herring.