"Perhaps the life of the mother." Perhaps this is Joni Ernst's (R-IA) Todd Akin moment.

[CBHagman]

[url]http://bigstory.ap.org/article/07fd615e722b4fbc9f92b518173537e1/last-iowa-senate-debate-set-braley-and-ernst[/url]

Republican candidate Joni Ernst defended her opposition to abortion rights during Thursday's final debate between her and Iowa Democrat Bruce Braley in their neck-and-neck race for a U.S. Senate seat, but she said for the first time that she might support a legal exception to save the life of the mother.

The issue has come to define the final weeks of their campaigns to succeed retiring Democrat Sen. Tom Harkin. Polls show more women support Braley, a congressman from northeast Iowa, and more men back Ernst, a state senator from southwest Iowa.

(SNIP)

During a free-flowing, conversational debate, Ernst repeatedly stated her belief that life begins at conception, which is consistent with her support for a U.S. Constitutional amendment bestowing the rights of persons on fetuses. Braley and others critical of such an amendment say it would outlaw abortions, most forms of contraception and in vitro fertilization.

"There would be certain exceptions," Ernst said, when pressed by the moderator about whether she could see any circumstances under which she would support abortion. "Going back to perhaps the life of the mother, I think that would be important."

[IggleDoer]

1. Just failed the RWNJ purity test

Kiss her goodbye.

[shraby]

2. She "thinks" that the life of the mother would be important? She "thinks"??? What about

The life of the mother IS important?
The mother is already a person. A living, breathing, person. Not a possible person. Not a someday person if everything goes right.
She is a person now AND has every right to decide her life and it's direction without help unless she asks for it.

[brer cat]

3. Well said, shraby.

[CTyankee]

7. Perhaps if the "mother" is already a mother and has children at home to take care and

is very poor. And not some woman who is selfish. Oh no.

[davidpdx]

8. +2

Yep, you can't have one without the other. Of course that makes no sense to the pig castrator.

[jwirr]

4. Might? What she is saying in this statement is that we must all become Roman Catholics. That is one

of the laws they used to espouse. I do not know if they still do it today but that idea has been out for most mainstream protestants even anti-abortion protestants since the Reformation. The rw has once again played into this idea.

Come on Iowa we do not want a theocracy where some church can determine the government rules for all of us. Stand up for freedom of religion and vote against ms ernst.

[Zambero]

5. Perhaps can be defined as...

Maybe yes, maybe no. Since Ernst has been on record as being steadfast for no exception whatsoever, her newfound "perhaps" is a bit shaky at best. More likely, she is posing as a fence straddler in an effort to placate fundies while at the same time reassuring mainstream voters that she is not as extreme as they might suspect. It's one or the other Joni, you can't be both.

[Control-Z]

6. Perhaps the life of the mother?

Hmm? I guess she'll decide which mothers deserve to live on a case by case basis.