If you thought there was an eventual bottom to the unhinged barbarism of the right's approach to reproductive rights, it might be time to think again.
Fresh on the heels of the Republican party-line response to the 10-year-old Ohio rape victim who had to flee the state for an abortion, leading Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon thinks a 14-year-old incest and rape victim is a "perfect example" of the need for abortion bans.
Dixon made the comments during an appearance on conservative commentator Charlie LeDuff’s talk show The No BS Newshour seen below.
While discussing abortion, LeDuff presented Dixon with the hypothetical case of a 14-year-old girl who becomes pregnant after she is raped by her uncle. He then asked if she would still call for a strict abortion ban even in such a horrifying case.
Dixon interjected:
"Yeah, perfect example."
LeDuff then clarified:
"You're saying carry that [baby]?"
Dixon then replied she would expect the 14-year-old to carry the pregnancy to term and she only supports abortion in the most extreme cases that endanger the life of the pregnant person.
She then claimed to personally know people who were born of rape and incest before resorting to the usual right-wing platitude.
“I know people who are the product—a life is a life for me. That’s how it is."
The Michigan Democratic Party condemned Dixon's remarks, calling her "callous" and "dangerous."
"Tudor Dixon has now gone so far in her radical anti-choice crusade as to say that a child who is the victim of incestual rape is the ‘perfect example’ of why abortion should be banned outright in Michigan."
"Her callous remarks are the perfect example of how dangerous Tudor Dixon would be for Michigan families."
Dixon is running against incumbent Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer on a platform centered on retaining Michigan's extremely restrictive 1931 law banning abortion entirely unless the pregnant person's life is at stake.
The law would have gone back into immediate effect after the US Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v. Wade last month had a judge not issued an injunction against the law at Planned Parenthood's request, saying it violates the state's constitution.
Whitmer, who has been open about having survived a rape as a teenager, has filed two lawsuits to keep the 1931 law from being reinstated and has spoken forcefully of her intention to continue fighting for abortion access in her state.
Asked by HuffPost to clarify her views on abortion, Dixon doubled down and called Whitmer's stance "not pro-choice [but] anti-Life" because she recently vetoed funding for so-called "crisis pregnancy centers," facilities run by anti-choice religious organizations who seek to coerce pregnant people out of having abortions under the guise of providing counseling.
On Twitter, Dixon's comments left people horrified and outraged.
Others pointed out how Dixon specifically said "for me" while giving her views but seemed not to understand that she is seeking to impose her views on everyone.
Recent polling shows Dixon with a narrow lead among the other Republicans running in the Michigan primary, who both also support the 1931 ban. The primary takes place August 2.
