Women and thinking men beware! Tom Smith, a founder of the tea party in his area, declared a pregnancy by two consenting unmarried people as “similar” to a pregnancy resulting from rape.
When a reporter tried to get Smith to clarify his position, all Smith could do was to unclearly talk about the victims’ father’s rights — whatever that was or is.
He has little compassion for victims, nor can he comprehend what the victims might suffer. The only thing that seems to matter is that the “baby” be carried to full term.
The fact that rape is a violent, vicious crime, and that the law of the land does allow for abortion is irrelevant to him.
This follows comments by Sen. Todd Akin, of Missouri, who believes that “legitimate” rape is simply a means of contraception because a woman’s hormones would prevent conception .
Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan ried to pass a law in Congress outlawing all abortions, including those pregnancies caused by rape and incest, as well as those that would threaten the mother’s life. In order to escape going to prison a rape victim would have to have the child, then be subject to years of visitation by the perpetrator, paternal custody battles and the like.
If we elect these people and their cohorts, we will be taking a big step toward returning to the Dark Ages, when women were defined as property or as chattel.
Nicoletta Herman
Bellefonte
