Illinois Republican Rep. Joe Walsh is drawing flack from Democrats for his comment Thursday that, thanks to medical advances, there are no longer situations in which abortion is necessary to save a woman’s life.
During a debate with his Democratic opponent Tammy Duckworth, Walsh said that he opposed abortion “without exception,” even in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother was in danger.
After the debate, WGN radio reported, Walsh was asked by reporters if he opposed an exception for the life or health of the mother because he felt such an exception was medically unnecessary.
“Absolutely,” he said.
“With modern technology and science, you can’t find one instance,” he said. “… There is no such exception as life of the mother, and as far as health of the mother, same thing.”
Medical experts disputed the claim.
Dr. Erika Levi, an obstetrician-gynecologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, cited a variety of reasons that a pregnancy can turn dangerous, according to the Chicago Tribune.
“Life-threatening medical conditions that can lead to terminating a pregnancy include infections of the uterus or the amniotic sac surrounding the fetus, some heart conditions and pre-eclampsia, a rapid rise in blood pressure that occurs during pregnancy and in the period right afterward,” the Tribune wrote.
“All of these conditions can occur throughout the pregnancy,” Levi said. “If these conditions occur prior to viability (of the fetus) then, at that point, abortion can become the only option to save the life of the mother.”
Democrats have tied Walsh’s comments to those made by Missouri Rep. Todd Akin in August, that victims of “legitimate rape” do not become pregnant.
“Joe Walsh is just the latest Republican to publicly admit he has dangerously little understanding about women’s health and basic biology,” said EMILY’s List President Stephanie Schriock. “His comments were offensive and embarrassing, but at this point, it’s hard to say [they’re] shocking. Todd Akin and Joe Walsh are not outliers in today’s GOP – they simply say what everyone else is thinking.”
“Joe Walsh’s ignorance about women’s health is alarming,” echoed Planned Parenthood Action Fund Executive Vice President Dawn Laguens in a statement to Roll Call.
“It appears ‘Doctor’ Joe Walsh gets his information from the same elite medical school as Todd Akin,” said Haley Morris of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Sadly, Congressman Joe Walsh has betrayed a level of ignorance about women’s health that’s offensive, but far too common-place within the Tea Party. Although national Republicans are still standing behind Congressman Joe Walsh, Illinois voters will not tolerate his ignorance and extremism any longer.”
National Republicans do not appear to have any intentions of dropping their support of Walsh, as many did for Akin.
“We will continue to hold Tammy Duckworth accountable for cheating on her taxes while accepting millions in special interest cash. That’s what our ad accomplishes, and it will remain on the air through Election Day,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Andrea Bozek told Roll Call.
Walsh has since walked the comments back somewhat, acknowledging “rare circumstances” in which an abortion might be medically necessary to save a mother’s life.
“Let me very clear that when I say I am pro-life, I mean that I am pro-life for the mother and I am pro-life for the unborn child. For me, there is no distinction between the two,” Walsh said in a statement posted on his campaign website.
“When it comes to having an abortion to save the life of a mother, I will say again that, outside of the very rare circumstances such as ectopic pregnancies, during which both the mother and baby will die if the baby is not aborted, and other rare health issues, the research is pretty clear that with the advances in modern medicine, an invasive and traumatic procedure like an abortion is not necessary to save the life of a mother,” he said. “In those very rare cases where a mother’s life may be in danger past the point of viability for the baby, today’s doctors work to induce labor or perform a caesarean section in an attempt to save both lives. These cases are extremely rare, and they unfortunately are used by the militant pro-choice movement to justify every single abortion.”
“For Ms. Duckworth to say that I support letting a mother die is the most disgusting form of politics. That is a desperate quote from a desperate candidate,” he added, attacking her as a “pro-abortion zealot.”
He also went on to attack Duckworth for comments she made about sexual abuse in the military, tying her remarks to Akin’s, which he called “offensive.”
“When asked earlier this summer about sexual abuse in the military and her personal experience with it, my opponents response was, and I quote, that ‘I was never sexually assaulted because I was a pretty tough chick, and not some weak 18 year old who couldn’t push back,'” Walsh said. “As a father of two daughters, I found those comments every bit as offensive as Congressman Akin’s offensive comments on rape.”
Duckworth made the comments in an interview with Buzzfeed.
When asked for comment by The Daily caller, National Right to Life pointed to their position statement on the subject: “The position of the National Right to Life Committee is to allow abortion if necessary to prevent the death of the mother.”
“We affirm Rep. Walsh’s ‘pro-life for the mother’ clarification,” said Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America. “We expect Rep. Walsh will be more careful with his words in the future.”
