Newsweek
Yesli Vega, a Republican running for Congress in Virginia, faced criticism on Monday for appearing to doubt whether women can get pregnant from rape.
At a campaign stop in Stafford County last month—before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with its Friday ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that ended abortion rights for millions of women—Vega was asked what action Congress should take should the court do so, Axios reported.
Vega responded that she supports more state-level restrictions on abortion.
“The left will say, ‘Well what about in cases of rape or incest?’ 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,” she said in audio obtained by Axios.
There is no evidence to back up claims that women who have been raped are less likely to become pregnant. According to a 1996 study from the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, an estimated 32,101 pregnancies result from rape each year.
Another person in the clip, who has not been identified, said it is harder for women to become pregnant if they are raped.
“Well, maybe because there’s so much going on in the body. 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,” she responded. “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.”
Vega faced condemnation for her remarks.
“This woman is running around in law enforcement spewing this kind of crap? She’s a complete disgrace to everyone else wearing that uniform,” wrote Virginia state Senate President Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas, a Democrat…
