Health

Lawmaker Says Awful Thing About Rape to Defend Anti-Abortion Bill

March 26th 2017

An Oklahoma state representative just said that rape and incest are the will of god. 

When asked if rape was the will of god, Oklahoma Rep. George Faught (R- Muskogee) said "the lord uses all circumstances" while defending an anti-abortion bill on the House floor, according The Huffington Post.

When asked for clarification by Rep. Cory Williams (D-Stillwater), Faught said: 

"It’s a great question to ask, and, obviously if it happens in someone’s life, it may not be the best thing that ever happened. But, so you’re saying that God is not sovereign with every activity that happens in someone’s life and can’t use anything and everything in someone’s life, and I disagree with that.”

Faught was defending a bill that would make abortion illegal under all circumstances—including rape and genetic abnormalities in the fetus. Under the bill, doctors who perform abortions could be fined up to $100,000 or have their licenses suspended. 

It's not the first time local abortion access advocates have seen such stark measures that imperil women from Faught, according to Shaista Fenwick, board member of the Oklahoma Coalition for Reproductive Justice. The group supports abortion access. 

"[Faught] has a history of disregarding violence against women and using religion as a basis for doing so." Fenwick told ATTN: "Religion is a very compelling argument here in Oklahoma, but it's an argument for compassion, and using it as an excuse to under serve Oklahoma's women is not only a disservice, it's an insult." 

Faught also said in a written statement to KFOR, a local NBC station. 

Life, no matter how it is conceived, is valuable and something to be protected. Let me be clear, God never approves of rape or incest. However, even in the worst circumstances, God can bring beauty from ashes.

The bill, according to KFOR, passed in the house with 67 votes and now moves on to the state Senate. However, many people have taken offense to Faught's comments. 

Rep. Williams opposes the bill, calling it an "act of hate" according to local outlets, and adding: "Let's not force someone to have a child that has absolutely no viability." 

The Oklahoma Coalition for Reproductive Justice posted on Facebook that this bill would be deeply damaging to healthcare reproductive rights and "doctor-patient relationships." 

Fenwick adds that the bill does a disservice to the women of Oklahoma. 

"These decisions are made between women and their medical providers, usurping that relationship is a terrible idea, the state has not gone through medical school," Fenwick told ATTN:.

"These women are facing some of the hardest decisions that they have to make with their families. These are planned pregnancies, these are wanted children." Fenwick says, "In many cases the delivery, the continuation of the pregnancy term, contains the kinds of risks that will be deeply unhealthy for the women as well." 

According to Vice, only one other state (North Dakota) has legislation that would ban abortions for fetal abnormalities, and if the bill there passes, it will likely be challenged in court. According to the Guttmacher Institute, similar laws in Indiana and Louisiana were blocked by federal courts. 

This bill will head to the Oklahoma State Senate. Fenwick encourages those concerned to contact state Senator Ervin Yen

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