Would women really lie about rape to get an abortion?

Indiana state Rep. Eric Turner (R) sparks an emotional debate by claiming women could lie and say they&#039;ve been raped to try and avoid his tough new anti-abortion restrictions.

(Image credit: YouTube)

last updated 8 January 2015

The video: An emotional exchange in the Indiana state legislature (see video below) centered around a bill that would outlaw all abortions for women who are more than 20 weeks pregnant. State Rep. Eric Turner (R), who introduced the bill, trashed a proposed amendment that would make an exception for victims of rape or incest, claiming it would create a "giant loophole" in which women seeking abortions "could simply say that they've been raped or there's incest." Rep. Linda Lawson (D), a former sex-crimes investigator, shot back, "Women don't make this up!" The amendment failed, 54–42, then the bill — which also requires women seeking an abortion to be told it carries a risk of breast cancer — passed, 72–23.

The reaction: Save us from deluded "lawmakers who seem to believe women are chattel," says Jason Linkins in The Huffington Post. What's next after this "fake rape loophole"? Telling the pregnant "woman who has 'died' from 'complications due to pre-eclampsia'" that she's "not fooling anybody, either"? Though reducing the number of abortions is a worthy goal, says The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette in an editorial, misogynistic" claptrap and forced lies about breast cancer are "not the way to protect lives." Oh, c'mon, says Indiana Right to Life President Mike Fichter. What's all the fuss over "common sense provisions that the vast majority of Hoosiers can agree on"? Watch the emotional debate: