The Five Anti-Choice Candidates to Fear

We know most Republican candidates are blatantly against women's rights to govern their own bodies, but several of this year's Senate candidates — most of whom are more closely affiliated with the Tea Party than with mainstream Republicanism — have taken the anti-choice rhetoric to a new level, arguing that abortion should never be allowed, no exceptions. Five Republican Senate nominees (so far) have come out in favor of abortion restrictions even in the case of rape and incest.

Mostly recently, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow offered an eloquent wrap-up of the five scariest anti-choice candidates in this year's race. If you don't have cable or watch Maddow online, here's the run-down.

1. Christine O'Donnell from Delaware doesn't believe in abortion at any stage, for any reason. This is also the woman who thinks that being gay is an identity disorder and that no one should masturbate. In O'Donnell's world, no one's rights, no matter how private, are off-limits for trampling.

2. Rand Paul from Kentucky, seemingly without irony, opposes federal assistance or promotion of abortions. Apparently, he's in favor of the government getting into your business — as long as it's to keep you from terminating an unwanted pregnancy. He also thinks states should be allowed to pass their own specific abortion laws. He not only opposes abortion in the case of rape, incest, and if the woman's health is at risk; he supports a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution and the Life at Conception Act.

3. Joe Miller of Alaska believes it is the government's responsibility to protect life "from the moment of conception to the time of natural death." It's unclear where he stands on the death penalty since that wouldn't exactly count as a natural death, but it is clear that Miller thinks unemployment benefits are unconstitutional. Not exactly a friend of poor women, eh?

4. Sharron Angle of Nevada has already been covered here because of her belief that "God has a plan" for rape and incest survivors to carry their abusers' babies. I wonder what a vengeful god would look like to a woman like Angle.

5. Ken Buck of Colorado at least (theoretically) makes a women's health abortion stance exception, though one has to wonder how rape and incest don't qualify as a women's health issue. This is especially perplexing as he also supports Colorado's Amendment 62, which would not only grant personhood rights to fertilized eggs, ban abortion statewide, and possibly outlaw emergency contraception; it would also make it illegal for cancer patients to receive life-saving treatment if it puts their embryos in jeopardy.

With only a few weeks until the election, it's worrisome that so many have gotten behind this type of intolerant anti-woman rhetoric. Unfortunately, Tea Party fever isn't restricted to state elections. Any obnoxiously anti-choice candidates running in your district for other offices? The more we know, the more we can combat the wave of anti-choice candidates this November.

Photo Credit: DaveFayram