Franks defends remarks on rape

[alp227]

Source: Arizona Republic

U.S. Rep. Trent Franks was engaged in damage control late Wednesday after his comments about rape and pregnancy during a Capitol Hill hearing earlier in the day prompted an outcry from Democrats, who seized on his words as more evidence of what they say is a GOP “war on women.”

Franks, R-Ariz., said his critics had taken his comments out of context and were using the controversy, which reverberated through news outlets and social media, to distract from “real issues” related to his legislation. His bill calls for a nationwide ban on abortions after 20 weeks...

Franks said during the hearing that he would not support an exception for victims of rape because they rarely get pregnant.

“The incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy (is) very low,” Franks said, according to the Washington Post, which first reported the story.

...

He told The Arizona Republic that he meant that the number of pregnancies resulting from rape and carried past 20 weeks is low.

...

Franks could not provide research to The Republic on the exact number of pregnancies terminated past 20 weeks that are related to rape, but he said only about 1 percent of all abortions in the United States are for that reason, so it would make sense there would be fewer late-term procedures. The 1 percent figure comes from surveys in 1997 and 2004 by the Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit research organization that advocates for sexual and reproductive rights.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/articles/20130612franks-defends-remarks-rape.html

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"out of context"? Really? Enjoy 2014, Trent.

[geek tragedy]

1. if you make headlines by defending your comments on rape, you've already lost nt

[KarenS]

2. I just called his Washington DC office,,,,

[phone] and told the young woman who answered the phone to beg him to stop talking, that he was embarrassing his constituents. She tried to explain what he meant I said I know what he said and in the context that he said it. yikes!!

[brooklynite]

3. "the number of pregnancies resulting from rape and carried past 20 weeks is low...."

because.....women have the ability to terminate their pregnancies? Or, is it more of the "the body has a way to shut that down" magic?

[CarmanK]

4. Franks (AZ-R) is just a egomaniacal GOP tool who needs a headline for FOX and a distraction

for the DOLITTLE BOEHNER house. It really is ashame that AZ keeps sending us such poor spokerspersons for their views and ideas. The BOEHNER HOUSE will work 123 days this year. So far they have voted to repeal Obamacare 39 times at a cost of $55 mn and voted on unconstitutional abortion bans the rest of the time.

[reflection]

5. At what point

do these morons learn to just keep their mouths shut? I swear, they are the most dense SOBs that ever lived. I guess it's a good thing, as long as they think the things they do, that they have no filters on their mouths.