There are many questions that immediately crop to mind upon hearing state Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Mo., claim that a “1-year-old could get an abortion under” a Democratic proposal for rape and incest exceptions in the state’s near-total abortion ban.
The first, of course, is whether Eigel is ignorant enough of human biology to believe babies can get pregnant. It’s a possibility, putting his claims in the echelon of idiotic beliefs Republicans have about reproduction, from claiming a woman can’t get pregnant from “legitimate rape” to arguing it’s “abortion” to avoid getting pregnant in the first place. Then there’s the second question: Assuming that babies could get pregnant, is Eigel arguing that it would be a good thing to force a baby to deliver another, barely smaller baby?
On the latter question, we do have an answer, though it is stomach-churning: Yes. Eigel’s stance is that forced childbirth in very small children (and, though impossible, babies) is a good thing. Nor is he alone in this view. Earlier this month, Republicans in the Missouri state Senate voted down the proposal to allow rape and incest victims access to abortion. In the process, Republicans repeatedly argued that being forced to give birth to a rapist’s child is good for a rape victim, regardless of how young they are.