Pennsylvania Senate candidate Tom Smith: Sex out of wedlock 'similar to' rape

Tom Smith Wait, what? Tom Smith, Republican challenger to Sen. Bob Casey in Pennsylvania, speaking today at the Pennsylvania Press Club:

Mark Scolforo, Associated Press: How would you tell a daughter or a granddaughter who, God forbid, would be the victim of a rape, to keep the child against her own will? Do you have a way to explain that?

Smith: I lived something similar to that with my own family. She chose life, and I commend her for that. She knew my views. But, fortunately for me, I didn't have to.. she chose they way I thought. No don't get me wrong, it wasn't rape.

Scolforo: Similar how?

Smith: Uh, having a baby out of wedlock.

Scolforo: That's similar to rape?

Smith: No, no, no, but' put yourself in a father's situation, yes. It is similar. But, back to the original, I'm pro-life, period.

The hell? So if you're a father, having your daughter have sex out of wedlock or having her raped is pretty much the same thing?

And that's what you base your reactionary anti-abortion stance on? To hell with violence or consent or anything else, it's just some sort of father-daughter property rights thing?

Good Lord. You know, as quickly as the GOP tried (and failed) to get rid of Todd Akin after his rancid commentary on the subject, Akin's stance is very much in keeping with his party. Now we've got Smith adding to the neanderthal chorus with this ... well, I don't even know how to describe this. It's just unbelievable.

As yet another reminder, Rick Santorum actually ran for president on things like this:

I believe and I think the right approach is to accept this horribly created -- in the sense of rape -- but nevertheless a gift in a very broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given to you.

As you know, we have to, in lots of different aspects of our life. We have horrible things happen. I can't think of anything more horrible. But, nevertheless, we have to make the best out of a bad situation.

Akin doesn't even know how the female body works:

"If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

Ron Paul also likes to make distinctions between "honest" rape and whatever the hell he imagines the other kinds to be:

If it's an honest rape, that individual should go immediately to the emergency room.

Kansas State Rep. Steve Brunk says you should have to prove rape or incest before seeking an abortion by showing your insurance provider the police report:

"You'd have to have a report that someone stole your car," said Rep. Steve Brunk, a Bel Aire Republican. "This is kind of the same thing."

South Dakota State Sen. Bill Napoli says rape isn't enough, if a woman wanted an abortion after a rape she'd have to prove she wasn't a slut and the rape would have to be so vicious as to endanger her life afterwards:

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.

How many more of these does it take? This isn't an isolated oops'this is a theme.

1:10 PM PT:

The GOP'er who said pregnancy from rape ' childbearing out of wedlock? He intro'ed @PaulRyanVP at an event last wk.

' @ggreeneva via Twitter for Mac