South Dakota State Senator Bill Napoli is pleased as punch that his governor has just signed legislation that bans access to an abortion unless the life of the mother is threatened. No exceptions are in the bill for rape, incest, or health considerations. But Napoli does worry that some women that are deserving of access to an abortion might not get it.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Napoli says most abortions are performed for what he calls “convenience.” He insists that exceptions can be made for rape or incest under the provision that protects the mother’s life. I asked him for a scenario in which an exception may be invoked.
BILL NAPOLI: A real-life description to me would be a rape victim, brutally raped, savaged. The girl was a virgin. She was religious. She planned on saving her virginity until she was married. She was brutalized and raped, sodomized as bad as you can possibly make it, and is impregnated. I mean, that girl could be so messed up, physically and psychologically, that carrying that child could very well threaten her life.
Crooks & Liars has the videotape.
I could editorialize about just how wrong Napoli is, and about how he is just a terrible human being. But, I confess, I am too stunned to see this mindset openly and proudly displayed by an elected official that I am somewhat at a loss for words. Does he really think that religious people deserve better access to medical care? Is he seriously suggesting that rape is not traumatic unless it involves being “sodomized as bad as you can possibly make it”? And how can he suggest that virgins (obedient abstinence program students) should be given preferential treatment in access to medical care? Sounds to me like he is arguing that non-virgin rape victims were just asking for it and should be forced to carry a resulting baby to term.
But Napoli claims, “My calls have been running 3-1 in favor of this bill.”
I’d like to see this guy get caught in a small room with Damnit Janet or MilitaryTracy. He might come away with a different opinion on the “as bad as you can make it” part of his story.
