Yesli Vega, the Republican Party’s nominee for a U.S. Congress seat in Virginia says she believes rape rarely leads to pregnancy, “maybe because there’s so much going on in the body.”
Her remarks were recorded last month before the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday took away the constitutional right to abortion. Axios broke the story Monday.
“The left will say, ‘Well what about in cases of rape or incest?'” Vega said at an event (audio below) in Stafford County, Virginia. “I’m a law enforcement officer. I became a police officer in 2011. I’ve worked one case where as a result of a rape, the young woman became pregnant.”
In the audio, Vega is asked: “I’ve actually heard that it’s harder for a woman to get pregnant if she’s been raped. Have you heard that?”
She replies: “Well, maybe because there’s so much going on in the body. I don’t know. I haven’t, you know, seen any studies. But if I’m processing what you’re saying, it wouldn’t surprise me. Because it’s not something that’s happening organically. You’re forcing it. The individual, the male, is doing it as quickly — it’s not like, you know — and so I can see why there is truth to that. It’s unfortunate.”
Vega, who is now being compared to the late GOP Senator Todd Akin, also brought up what she sees as her “number one” obligation as a person of faith, calling abortion a deviation.
“It’s my, number one, as a believer, to give you all of the resources available. If you decide to deviate and do something else, we don’t stop loving you.”
“Because of the data that we have it’s been proven that women who do move forward with an abortion, they suffer so much.”
In a social media post celebrating the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade Vega claimed abortion has been legal “up to and even after the point of birth.”
59% of Americans oppose the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
Vega is running for the seat currently held by Democratic U.S. Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, who beat Rep. Dave Brat in 2018.
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