US Republican leader says that rape pregnancy is a “blessing”

Sharon Barnes, a high ranking Republican out of the state of Missouri, made some comments that might even be considered worse than those made by her colleague, Todd Akin.  Coming to the defence of Akin, who said that it’s virtually impossible for a woman to get pregnant while being raped, Barnes was quoted by the New York Times as saying:  ”If God has chosen to bless this person [the rape victim] with a life, you don’t kill it.”

She went on to say that abortion “is not an option,” since apparently, the abundant blessings of being pregnant after being raped are just too great to pass over.




We’re not sure where she’s coming from, but it’s hard to classify a rape pregnancy as any kind of blessing.  Some women might not want to look their rapist in the face every time they feed their newborn baby.   Barnes hails from the bible belt, just like Akin, coming out of the city of St. Louis.  She has been president of the 2nd Congressional District Republican Women’s organization, Vice President of the Missouri Federation of Republican Women and similar positions.

With the presidential election coming up, Republican strategists may make the brilliant proposal that the organization just keep the words “women,” “rape” and “abortion” out of their mouths until after the election.  This is getting really messy.