Congressman says abortions never necessary to save life of mother

[Jess]

Congressman says abortions never necessary to save life of mother (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/congressman-says-abortions-never-necessary-save-life-mother-175130900--election.html)

Republican Congressman Joe Walsh of Illinois said after his Thursday debate against Democratic rival Tammy Duckworth that abortions are never necessary to save a pregnant woman's life, because modern technology has eliminated the risks of childbearing.

Walsh was defending his position that abortion should be outlawed with no exceptions, which is also the Republican Party's official stance on the issue.

"With modern technology and science, you can't find one instance" of a pregnant woman's life being at risk, he told reporters after the debate. "There is no such exception as life of the mother, and as far as health of the mother, same thing." He added that "advances in science and technology" meant that abortion is never necessary for the health of a mother.

Walsh, a freshman Congressman, is seen as "likely" to lose his seat to Duckworth, a veteran of the Iraq War, in part because his redrawn district now includes more Democrats than when he ran two years ago.

In August, Republican Senate candidate and sitting Congressman from Missouri Todd Akin told a reporter that he didn't support exceptions for abortion for rape because women's bodies have a mechanism to prevent pregnancy in the case of a "legitimate rape." Mitt Romney and many national Republican politicians quickly distanced themselves from Akin and his comment. Romney has said he supports abortion exceptions in the cases of rape and the mother's health.

Update: According to The Chicago Daily Herald's Kerry Lester, Walsh said in a press conference Friday that he believes ectopic pregnancies can result in death, but did not take questions about whether he would make abortion exceptions in those cases.

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Seriously?

[conniption]

Another ignorant politician spewing a bunch of BS.

[Lyra Heartstrings]

I hate election time. It's just filled with dumbasses trying to look smart.

[Noirtier]

I heard about this. Kind of hearkens back to Todd Akin and his comment on "legitimate rape" as well as Paul Ryan's own previous wavering on the stance of abortion in cases of rape/incest. Just goes to show you how ignorant people really are out there. The same people we've elected to run the country. Go us.

[xXJust Jump ItXx]

What the %*[email protected] stupid freaking #*! *#(@), and what the hell are they $)@ing thinking! OMG!!! STUPID STUPID politics, they dont know anything!

[Mortal Coil]

I am trying not to become actually livid about this. But it's hard. Can I smack this guy?

[FreeFall]

An old, male politician trying to tell women what to do with our uterus. Nope.

"With modern technology and science, you can't find one instance" of a pregnant woman's life being at risk
Bullshit! Women in modern countries still die from pregnancy, giving birth and complications! Sometimes they can't even figure out why the woman died.
Eclampsia, Hypertension, sever hemorrhages, even anemia. They still claim modern day women, I'd love to know what ultra modern super medicine he knows of that can help stop these women at risk from dying.
It's bad enough he wants to force women unwillingly to give birth, but now he's indirectly blaming the women that are at risk for maternal death for being at risk, and brushing off the women who have died from maternal death in the past year. Because we're so modern and technologically advanced. puh.

[xXJust Jump ItXx]

I am trying not to become actually livid about this. But it's hard. Can I smack this guy?

Alex, yes you may. Ill give you a baseball bat even!

An old, male politician trying to tell women what to do with our uterus. Nope.


Bullshit! Women in modern countries still die from pregnancy, giving birth and complications! Sometimes they can't even figure out why the woman died.
Eclampsia, Hypertension, sever hemorrhages, even anemia. They still claim modern day women, I'd love to know what ultra modern super medicine he knows of that can help stop these women at risk from dieing.
It's bad enough he wants to force women unwillingly to give birth, but now he's indirectly blaming the women that are at risk for maternal death for being at risk, and brushing off the women who have died from maternal death in the past year. Because we're so modern and technologically advanced. puh.

And you totally understand and its all true! I hate this guy truthfully and guess what! "No uterus, no opinion."

[FreeFall]

And you totally understand and its all true! I hate this guy truthfully and guess what! "No uterus, no opinion."
Can we send in like letters to even see what he plans for women at risk? Does he just wave and say "oh well you shouldn't have been at risk, we're living in a modern world full of modern science and medicine you know."

[Sir Suomi]

It's because of people like him, I never can fully support Republicans fully. That's why I would consider myself an independent!

[Skyhawk]

I am trying not to become actually livid about this. But it's hard. Can I smack this guy?

I'll mail a frying pan to you. That'll do the trick. ;)

I'm not surprised by another politician's idiocy. They just say whatever to make the public happy, whether or not it's true.

[TigerBoy]

On medical matters it seems wise to defer to the consensus of medical science, and a politician with an agenda driven in large part by religious extremism should be given no power to interfere with such matters.

What scares me is that if the US keeps electing these idiots then you'll end up with a mediaevally-minded society whipped by religion and armed with nukes instead of pitchforks, and no better than some of the nations in the Middle East.

[Jess]

I think this is the part that ticks me off most:

"With modern technology and science, you can't find one instance" of a pregnant woman's life being at risk, he told reporters after the debate.

[TigerBoy]

I think this is the part that ticks me off most:

Selectively choosing and ignoring evidence is second nature to this type of 'upstanding Christian'. On the one hand they are quick to dismiss or ignore science and technology when it threatens their theological views but then equally quick use it to disseminate and bolster their messages of hate in another.

I remember reading about this guy before, because he cynically added an anti equal marriage rider (http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/05/19/republicans-hastily-add-anti-equal-marriage-coda-to-a-defence-bill/)to an important defence bill (which included a pay rise for troops) back in May. Anyone who would jeopardise the moral and well-being of his own country's armed forces in order to boost his own theological views is despicable in my view.

[Foamy]

Honestly, politicians are stupid individuals who do not know the differences between smart and NOT AT ALL SMART. The people that help the candidates should be allowed to carry a bat and whack the candidate every time they're speaking nonsense like this.