Richard Mourdock clarifies: 'God does not want rape'

Richard Mourdock, the GOP candidate for US Senate in Indiana, said in a debate Tuesday that pregnancy after a rape was "something that God intended to happen." After the debate, Richard Mourdock issued a statement clarifying his remark.

|
(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Republican Richard Mourdock, candidate for Indiana's U.S. Senate seat, participates in a debate with Democrat Joe Donnelly and Libertarian Andrew Horning in a debate in New Albany, Ind., Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012.

Richard Mourdock, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Indiana, said in a debate on Tuesday that "even when life begins with that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen."

The remark drew criticism from his Democratic opponent, congressman Joe Donnelly, as well as from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's camp - even as Mourdock defended his words.

During the debate in New Albany, Indiana, Mourdock, Donnelly and Libertarian candidate Andrew Horning were asked about their views on abortion.

RECOMMENDED: Romney vs. Obama: 5 ways their views differ on women

"The only exception I have to have an abortion is in that case of the life of the mother," Mourdock said. "I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God and I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape that it is something God intended to happen."

Mourdock, the state treasurer who is a favorite of the conservative Tea Party movement, ousted longtime Senator Richard Lugar in the Republican primary earlier this year. He is locked in a tight race with Donnelly ahead of the Nov. 6 election.

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz called Mourdock's comments "outrageous and demeaning to women."

Donnelly said that rape "is a heinous and violent crime in every instance."

"The God I believe in and the God I know most Hoosiers believe in, does not intend for rape to happen - ever," Donnelly said in a statement after the debate, using the nickname for Indiana residents. "What Mr. Mourdock said is shocking, and it is stunning that he would be so disrespectful to survivors of rape."

Mourdock issued a statement after the debate that said: "God creates life, and that was my point. God does not want rape, and by no means was I suggesting that He does. Rape is a horrible thing, and for anyone to twist my words otherwise is absurd and sick."

Romney, who on Monday launched statewide ads endorsing Mourdock, distanced himself on Tuesday from the remark by his fellow Republican. "Governor Romney disagrees with Richard Mourdock's comments, and they do not reflect his views," said Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul.

Republicans need a net gain of four seats to gain control of the U.S. Senate from the Democrats, or three if Romney wins the White House. Republicans began 2012 in a strong position, but have suffered some self-inflicted wounds.

In Missouri, Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin prompted an uproar by saying women's bodies have defenses against pregnancy after "legitimate rape," and now trails in his race.

A September Howey-DePauw poll put Donnelly up by 2 percentage points over Mourdock, 40 to 38 percent, with 7 percent for Horning.(Writing by Corrie MacLaggan; Additional reporting by Sam Youngman; Editing by Will Dunham)RECOMMENDED: Romney vs. Obama: 5 ways their views differ on women

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Richard Mourdock clarifies: 'God does not want rape'
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/From-the-Wires/2012/1024/Richard-Mourdock-clarifies-God-does-not-want-rape
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe