title:  Republican Lawmaker Says Rape Won’t Cause Pregnancy, Especially In Cases Of Incest (AUDIO)
text: A male Idaho Republican with five daughters made some creepy and outrageous claims during a hearing on an abortion bill on Thursday.According to The Spokesman-Review, the bill  would require women seeking abortions to be given a list of providers of free ultrasounds, and to be told they have a right to such a procedure and to hear a fetal heart monitor  and does not include exceptions for rape and incest victims.During the hearing, a crisis pregnancy center employee was testifying when GOP state Rep. Pete Nielsen made cringe-worthy remarks reminiscent of former Missouri Rep. Todd Akin, who in 2012 claimed that women have natural defenses to shut down the reproductive process if she is going through a  legitimate rape. Now, I m of the understanding that in many cases of rape it does not involve any pregnancy because of the trauma of the incident,  Nielsen said when the CPC employee claimed that her organization had already persuaded two rape victims against having an abortion.  That may be true with incest a little bit,  Nielsen continued.Here s audio of Nielsen s remarks via YouTube.After the hearing, Nielsen doubled down on his remarks, claiming that pregnancy  doesn t happen as often as it does with consensual sex, because of the trauma involved. In fact, a study conducted in 1996 found that around 32,000 rapes result in pregnancy every year.The Spokesman-Review also did some digging and reported,The scientific consensus on the issue is that rape is as likely to result in pregnancy as consensual sex, and some studies suggest the rate of pregnancy is higher in rape. A 2003 study that appeared in the scientific journal  Human Nature,  for instance, found that the rate of pregnancy from rape exceeded the rate of pregnancy from consensual sex by a  sizable margin. But Nielsen, who is NOT a doctor, said  That s information that I ve had through the years,  and then admitted,  Whether it s totally accurate or not, I don t know. In other words, Nielsen has no clue what he is talking about, but decided to make the remarks anyway.Women do not have a natural ability to halt the reproductive process any more than men do. All it takes is one sperm to reach and join a woman s egg to result in a pregnancy. The reproductive process makes no distinction between consensual and non-consensual sex.But Nielsen couldn t stop talking and made a really creepy remark about why he believes rape and incest don t cause pregnancy. I read a lot of information. I have read it several times.   Being a father of five girls, I ve explored this a lot. Yeah, he really said that.Planned Parenthood in Idaho legislative director Hannah Brass Greer expressed outrage that Nielsen, or any lawmaker for that matter, could make such a claim. That s obviously, medically, scientifically inaccurate,  she said.  That type of comment we ve heard before, when politics get in the way of medical care. It s harmful on so many levels. Indeed, not only are such remarks harmful to women and science, it s proven to be especially harmful to Republicans during an election year. As you ll recall, Todd Akin went on to lose his Senate race to Claire McCaskill. Other Republicans who spoke about rape such as Richard Mourdock in Indiana also lost their bid for public office. Republicans also lost in the presidential race that same year because they couldn t stop talking about rape, which caused women to flock to the Democratic Party.It is an issue that has absolutely shredded Republicans in recent years, so it will interesting to see how Republicans, especially those who are running for president in 2016, respond if they are asked to comment on Nielsen s remarks. And if anything, it demonstrates that Republicans still have not learned to keep their mouths shut and that they still hold inaccurate beliefs about rape and the female reproductive system.Featured Image via Raw Story