VA-07: Leaked Audio: GOP Candidate Says She Doubts Rape Victims Get Pregnant

[RandySF]

A female Republican congressional candidate claimed on the campaign trail in Virginia last month that rape victims are less likely to become pregnant because “it’s not something that’s happening organically.”

Yesli Vega made the eyebrow-raising comments while being asked for her thoughts on what then promised to be a Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending the federal right to abortion.

An audio recording of the remarks, which took place at an event in Stafford County, was published by Axios on Monday. Vega—who is Democrat Abigail Spanberger’s rival for Congress in the Virginia’s liberal-leaning 7th District—said she was drawing on her experience as a Prince William County supervisor and a sheriff’s deputy after affirming her belief for state-level restrictions on abortion.

“The left will say, ‘Well what about in cases of rape or incest?’” Vega can be heard telling an unidentified interlocutor in the clip. “I’m a law-enforcement officer. I became a police officer in 2011. I’ve worked one case where as a result of a rape, the young woman became pregnant.”

Vega was also asked at the event if she had heard that it’s “harder for a woman to get pregnant if she’s been raped.”

“Well, maybe because there’s so much going on in the body,” Vega answered. “I don’t know. I haven’t, you know, seen any studies. But if I’m processing what you’re saying, it wouldn’t surprise me. Because it’s not something that’s happening organically. You’re forcing it. The individual, the male, is doing it as quickly—it’s not like, you know—and so I can see why there is truth to that. It’s unfortunate.”




https://www.thedailybeast.com/yesli-vega-virginia-gop-rep-nominee-says-she-doubts-pregnancy-comes-after-rape-in-leaked-audio-comments?via=twitter_page

[SWBTATTReg]

1. How dumb can someone get? Gee, I though the bottom of the barrel was already being scrapped

with the likes of what idiotic GOP house and senate members that are already out there. I guess the GOP textbook on how to win is to act as crazy as they can, in order to get votes.

[The Unmitigated Gall]

2. What's "unfortunate", Yesli, is how bone-grindingly ignorant you are.

[atreides1]

3. Vega is an idiot

https://theweek.com/articles/472972/rape-cant-cause-pregnancy-brief-history-todd-akins-bogus-theory

A widely cited 1996 study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that each instance of rape has a 5 percent chance of resulting in pregnancy, a figure that "includes rapes in which condoms were used." Other studies from foreign countries have reported much higher percentages. In real terms, the AJOG study found, more than 32,000 pregnancies result from rape each year in the U.S. alone.

[spooky3]

4. Our new Todd Akin

And did it occur to her that many rapes are unreported, so she would never know of pregnancies resulting from those?

The old Flat Earth problem—“I looked out my back door and the land was flat, so therefore the whole world is flat.”

[IcyPeas]

9. Akin said:

Akin, a strong abortion opponent, was asked during an interview by a St. Louis television stationwhether he supported allowing abortions for women who have been raped. He answered that “from what I understand from doctors” that such pregnancies are “really rare.”

He added: “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

[thucythucy]

5. I ran into this nonsense decades ago

while volunteering with a rape crisis center.

I was crossing a local park and an anti-choice group was handing out leaflets listing "facts" about abortion. One of those "facts" was that rape and incest don't cause pregnancy. Having recent experience with rape survivors, I totally lost it. I gave the jerk--a man in this case--a piece of my mind but I doubt it did any good.

This nonsense is supposed to justify not allowing exceptions to their nasty laws for rape and incest.

Really, these folks just make shit up. It's a classic instance of "the ends justify the means." Lying for the Lord and all that.

So maybe this person genuinely believes this, or maybe not.

Either way I'm disgusted we still have to argue this point.

[scarletlib]

6. This is literally Medieval medicine.

Last edited Mon Jun 27, 2022, 05:44 PM - Edit history (1)

I kid you not. I read a book several years ago about daily life in Medieval times. It was written as a sort of travelogue. Chapters on how people dressed, what they ate etc., one entire section talked about medicine.

Their doctors studied and practiced medicine that Galen taught. They had absolutely no understanding of female anatomy but plenty of misconceptions.

One was that unwanted sex could sort of “freeze” her reproductive organs and stop impregnation.

These politicians evidently missed classes on basic biology.

[Totally Tunsie]

7. So the sperm know the donor's intent?

This woman needs a good lesson about reproduction.

[BlueCheeseAgain]

8. From beyond the grave, Todd Akin sighs with relief.

Maybe now he won't be the only person to be remembered for such stupidity.

[MaeScott]

10. Good gravy that's stupid

Minor girls at home can be repeatedly raped by their family member. And threatened.

[keithbvadu2]

11. Statistics mean other people. When it is you, it is 100%.

Statistics mean other people.

When it is you, it is 100%.