In the never-ending male Republican march to dictate to women how to manage their bodies and their lives, GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum Friday told CNN’s Piers Morgan that rape victims must “make the best out of a bad situation.” Santorum has a strong history of advocating for making contraception and all abortion illegal — even in the cases of rape and incest, even when the mother’s health is in danger. But now, Santorum tells women, they should have no choice in the matter, although somehow he adds, strangely, that it’s not a religious issue for him.
Think Progress explains, and offers this video:
Last Friday, CNN’s Piers Morgan asked Santorum to clarify his reasoning behind such a callous position. Insisting that “it’s not a matter of religious values,†Santorum explained that sexual assault victims should “accept this horribly created†pregnancy because it is “nevertheless a gift in a very broken way†and that, when it comes down to it, a victim just has “to make the best out of a bad situation“:
SANTORUM: Well, you can make the argument that if she doesn’t have this baby, if she kills her child, that that, too, could ruin her life. And this is not an easy choice. I understand that. As horrible as the way that that son or daughter and son was created, it still is her child. And whether she has that child or doesn’t, it will always be her child. And she will always know that. And so to embrace her and to love her and to support her and get her through this very difficult time, I’ve always, you know, I believe and I think the right approach is to accept this horribly created — in the sense of rape — but nevertheless a gift in a very broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given to you. As you know, we have to, in lots of different aspects of our life. We have horrible things happen. I can’t think of anything more horrible. But, nevertheless, we have to make the best out of a bad situation.
Again the so-called party of small government is first and quick to impose their values and rules on the rest of society.
Think Progress’ Tanya Somander adds,
The problem with Santorum’s sense of humanity is that it doesn’t seem to extend to the victim. The emotional and physical trauma endured during and after a sexual assault often leaves a woman feeling robbed of any control over her own body and welfare. Robbing a woman of the choice to decide what to do with such “horribly created†consequences only contributes to the victim’s trauma.
What’s more, Santorum’s argument forces a woman in these circumstances to share his religious beliefs and “accept what God has given to [her.]†A woman may very well share his belief and decide to carry the pregnancy to the term, but the fundamental point is that that should be her choice — not the government’s, and certainly not Santorum’s.
Of course, we should not expect any apologies from the Santorum campaign.