Wash. candidate says 'rape thing' not cause for abortion
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A Republican congressional candidate says abortion should not be legal, even when it involves "the rape thing," according to audio provided Wednesday to The Associated Press.
An activist working on behalf of liberal group FUSE Washington asked questions of Republican hopeful John Koster during a Sunday fundraiser. Koster said he does not oppose abortion when the life of the mother is in danger but then explains he would oppose it when it involves rape or incest.
Koster twice uses the phrase "the rape thing" when describing his views, first saying that he knows a woman who was raped and gave up the child for adoption without any regrets.
"But on the rape thing, it's like, how does putting more violence onto a woman's body and taking the life of an innocent child that's a consequence of this crime, how does that make it better?" Koster said in the exchange.
Koster's campaign manager Larry Stickney says the candidate has long been a proponent of dealing strongly with sex offenders. He noted that Koster worked in the state legislature on legislation to crack down on sex offenders and has daughters of his own.
"To imply that he's cavalier about the issue is preposterous," Stickney said.
Koster is locked in a competitive House race against Democrat Suzan DelBene.
Republicans have been beleaguered this year by comments about rape that some have deemed offensive. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., who is challenging Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, said female bodies have ways fo avoiding pregnancy in cases of "legitimate rape."
More recently, Indiana GOP candidate Richard Mourdock has been criticized for saying that pregnancy resulting from rape is "God's will."
Collin Jergens, a spokesman at the advocacy group FUSE Washington, said one of the group's activists went to a Sunday fundraiser to ask Koster about the issue of abortion. Democrats have been trying to portray Koster as out of touch with the district — which stretches from areas east of Seattle to the border with Canada — and they have focused particularly on his stance on social issues.
Men can be raped to, not just women, But You never hear of those stories, What do you call it when a woman incapacitates a man with the date rape drug, and or uses mental attacks like if you don't have sex with me, I'll call the police and say you raped me? or if the woman just flat out holds a knife to the guys throat? You see rape can go both ways. And don't even ask me how I know this to be true beaus I of know 3 people this has happens to in real life. Ijsut threw those out as examples. You pick and chose what one is real and what one isn't and then there is ann attempted rape buy some gay person that attacks a person on the street. So you tell me, Who can and can not be raped and how it effects a person. By the way the attempted rape I know for a fact up on a male can happen because I was a witness to it. back in 91.
I think what Mr Koster and a lot of other people fail to understand is that forcible rape is NOT about "sex"... It is about TOTAL CONTROL over the victim ~ and causing pain, extreme fear, and humiliation to the victim. Â Â
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Mr Koster, by virtue of his "rape thing" comment, has "downgraded" forcible rape to the level of, say, having your pocket picked. Â Â Having one's pocket picked is a crime, to be sure; however, it is not likely to impact your mental and emotional state for the remainder of your life. Â Â Violent rape, on the other hand, can and often DOES do just that to its victims. Â Â Pregnancy resulting from the rape only serves to add yet one more layer to the lasting effects of this horrible crime.
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""To imply that he's cavalier about the issue is preposterous," Stickney." Â (from the story) Â Â
I don't know that "cavalier" is an apt description of Mr Koster's attitude about this subject... personally, I think "thoroughly disgusting" fits better..!
 @margay1 I agree with you with the exception of "forcible rape", to categorize a "type of rape" is demeaning to those that weren't beat up when they were raped (for example).
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Rape is rape, period, and this guy joins the growing ranks of ignorant men who want make belief based rules.....we do not live in a theocracy, this sets a very dangerous precedence.
 @deejm2112 ~  Point well made, deejm... I should've worded that differently, because what I was trying to set apart (for lack of a better term) are cases of "statutory rape" - eg: the 18-yr-old who has sex with his 15-yr-old girlfriend...even if she is a very willing participant, she is a minor, and she cannot legally "consent"...so it's "statutory rape".  Now, if the 15-yr-old girl gets pregnant, there is a different set of issues, but at least the "forcible" part of it isn't there...Â
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You are correct, though... if she says "No" and he does it anyway, it's rape... regardless of whether or not he does anything else to her... and even if he doesn't beat her up, it can be just as devastating to the woman. Â Â Â
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Thanks for making that point..! Â :-)
 @margay1  @deejm2112 If He says "no" it is also rape. I think it is time to get men to start a group on this issue as well.
Republicans - yeah, we want smaller government, unless your a stupid woman, in which case you can't be trusted to make your own medical decisions. We want government out of healthcare unless see above. We want religious freedom unless see above. I don't think these are "gaffes" or "mistakes" or that someone "misspoke" or words were taken out of context. They're telling you the truth about how they feel and think about women and the choices that they should be allowed to make.
I'm starting to wonder if many people who are so adamantly against abortion, for any reason, don't secretly fear, given the choice and opportunity, that they themselves would have been aborted. Or that they themselves would not have been conceived had a parent used effective birth control. Can you imagine how unsettling that feeling would be at the core of your belief system?
RepubliCONs keep saying, "this REALLY isn't our party values"...while they keep saying these ignorant comments...
Please someone in the media ...crawl all up in this guy's( Koster) business and life history. The way he bandies about the term "the rape thing" and his weird attitude just sends up red flags about his sexual history with women. I have to wonder about his possible history of sexcapades in years gone by and his version of a sexual encounter vs. the woman of that encounter's perception of that experience. What happened in college at a party or at the frat/ dorms? His language just sounds suspect...
 @whirledworld You may be right ... he's awfully dismissive of the victim's point of view, and he does sound like a date rapist who feels there was "simply a misunderstanding." Of course, that's the perspective of most male Republicans who think that women going out after dark without an escort are "asking for it" and "deserve whatever happens". Disgusting. Actually, it makes me feel really sorry for the women who still vote for these candidates, because it means that they subscribe to this relegation of feminine sexuality and the female "place" in society. =(
 @badcat  @whirledworld I'm thinking the point he was trying to make was it's about the child, not the rape. This I know, AP sure doesn't like republicans. "the rape thing, the rape thing, the rape thing"
Are you kidding me...what an absolute ignorant comment...reporting what someone says should first be checked by which party they belong to ?? What an idiot !
 @oodathunked  @badcat  @whirledworld There is a way the Republicans could get the AP out of their grill about rape.
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They could shut the hell up and quit being jackasses.
@oodathunked @badcat @whirledworld I would agree, except for the fact that he tries to minimize the violence, trying to make it sound like a "coffee-thing", a "drink-thing", a "lunch-thing", something that just happens very casually. I don't think that fits the experience of a victim of rape.
I know it's a bumper sticker statement but the truth cannot be denied...if men could become pregnant abortion would not only be legal, it would be free of charge
@Solipsist01 Yup, I wouldn't want, and I can't imagine any other man wanting to push a watermelon through the wee-wee.
Koster - if a guy VIOLENTLY shoves something into me, I have the right to violently take it right back out, because I DID NOT ASK FOR IT!Â
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Where the heck are these guys coming from? I say we do some straw polling, and shove a few straws, and see how they like it! They can't take them out, because that would be violent.Â
 @washcomom Oh yeah, exactly - by all means - violently remove the penis. I'm all for that. Nobody has a right to kill an innocent life - I don't care the circumstances; nothing makes it right.
@Mark Elfering @washcomom So a woman is raped, and according to Mark, regardless of the circumstance, even if she were gang-banged, and even if as a result she were infected with an incurable sexually transmitted disease, and became pregnant, and knew that her baby would be born with this incurable sexually transmitted disease, it wouldn't be right to have an abortion? So, do you suggest that the victim of the rape, throw herself down a flight of stairs to terminate the pregnancy? What if she can't handle the trauma of knowing what happened to her, and the life her baby would have, and in turn kills herself and the fetus inside her? And speaking of the fetus, let's just assume that she goes through and carries the fetus to term, how would you feel if you went through your life knowing that you father was a rapist, who violently attacked your mother, resulting in your birth, and knowing the pain that your mother must have gone through? ANSWER THAT MARK, THEN YOU CAN OPEN YOUR BACK-END TO VOICE YOUR OPINION SOME MORE!
 @Mark Elfering  @washcomom who determines when a soul is in a biological substance? Religious freedom in this country means your idea of what is ethical and what mine is according to our spiritual beliefs don't have to be the same. I don't subscribe to your idea that there even is innocent life at the times abortions are commonly performed, because of what my spiritual tradition and belief is.. There is a biological phenomenon growing but it does not even yet have a soul imbued in it at that point.
@Mark Elfering @washcomom You are rubbing salt in the wounds of women who have survived sexual assaults. For the truly repugnant and ignorant rightwingers like yourself,let the women with actual experience remind you of the facts: Rape does nothing to give.These women did not give away their bodies,their innocence,their peace of mind, their sense of the world. Those things were all taken from them violently and, in some cases, under threat of death. I defy anyone to go through the trauma and come out unscathed. To become pregnant by rape is a horror I cannot fathom, an unimaginably cruel twist of fate. Women who survive those circumstances with their sanity intact are to be commended for their courage and grit, not to have neanderthals like you and your ilk to come along and twist the knife with fairy tales about what your God wants for them. What would happen if a 9 year old child was the victim of rape and she became pregnant? She would be forced to go through that trauma and have that baby? It would kill her because she is just a baby herself. Remember, if they ban the right to choose, all women who can have children will be under the scrutiny of the government. If you become pregnant and miscarry, you could end up in a courtroom with your uterus in the front and 12 jurors deciding if it was murder.You people can't respect women for the beautiful individuals that they are.Those who you consider to be your leaders who want to make women faceless objects to be controlled by white republican christian men sitting around in suits need to be removed from leadership?try to live my life in respect to the diversity of all life around me, yet when I see these degrading, insulting attitudes presented I cannot help but feel contempt and disgust for you people.You are lost to the darkness of your own ignorance.
@noneofyourbizzness Well said my friend, I tip my hat to you.
 @Mark Elfering But shouldn't the victim have to marry her rapist? That's what the bible says. Do you not agree with the bible's teachings? Do you not support a two-parent household? Do you want children to grow up without their father???
@oodathunked The Bible doesn't say that? What does it say regarding this topic?
 @badcat   BS
 @badcat  @Mark Elfering Oh snap!
Isn't it Tuesday the 6th yet?
Please please please keep sticking microphones in white male Republican faces and asking them their opinions on the experience of rape victims. They're doing so well!! Don't stop giving them every opportunity to tell the voters what the party's REAL policy and true agenda is!! Only a few days left, and so many more misogynist morons whose opinions needs to be made known!!
@badcat Next thing we know, they'll be telling us that the victims went, approached the attackers, offered to ride the pony, and then fixed him breakfast and coffee afterwards, all while maintaining perfect makeup and without a single hair out of place!!
This guy sounds like a prime candidate for "the punch-in-the-mouth thing"!
So after the "Rape Thing" happens and the victim has a baby as the result of the "Rape Thing"... because John Koster thinks she should...does the baby's father get to have joint custody? Does he become part of the victims life forever? Does the mother have to take the baby to prison for visitation? Who pays to raise this baby? Either John Koster is an ignorant Jackass...or he's nuts. Or am I wrong about this? Let me know folks.
 @LongTimeLocal Sadly 31 States allow rapist custody and visitation rights.  http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2012/08/31-states-grant-rapists-custody-and-visitation-rights/56118/Â
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I had a very hard time reading this because it shouldn't be allowed let alone considered.  I thought we were in a more modern society, but it seems that people like this man have not grown as a person or a human.Â
 @dandalion  @LongTimeLocal well another damn scary article.  We need some laws changed. I can see them allowing visitation where an 18 year old has a child with a 16 year old in a statutory case but other than that, it's insane to consider that the rapist retains any rights.
 @LongTimeLocal Hey man, don't get all hung up on that "rape thing" -- what we need to focus on are family values, and two-parent families. He probably has a plan to help reunite unwed mothers and fathers, including special counseling for those caught up in the whole "rape thing" that keeps biblically ordained couples from raising their children together. Deuteronomy teaches that a rapist should marry his victim, and thus preserve the family unit. See, all things are possible through god and jesus and a completely warped sense of justice and morality......
@badcat @LongTimeLocal ooooh, ooooooh I have a question about that, what if the rapist father, had multiple children through multiple victims, does that mean he gets to marry all of the victims? And if the victims were already married, would that mean that the victims would get multiple husbands, to match the offenders multiple wives? I'm so confused. I'm going to go get some Jesus Juice and pass out for a bit.
 @LongTimeLocal I vote for ' ignorant jackass.' I hope no one in Washington votes for the ignorant jackass, though.
Another day, another ignorant statement by a Republican about rape and women. Rape is a violent crime and pretending to understand it by simply jumping on the band wagon with the rest of the other GOP candidates seeking media attention is ignominious. I am afraid this what the Republican party has become--a monster in its own right.We must vote Democrat all the way down the ticket so these vile Republican candidates stay away from Washington DC.I find it very strange that the same people that are all about pro life don't believe in welfare or food stamps or healthcare for all of these babies.Who will pay for all of these unwanted babies? Why is there an astounding majority of smug christian white men who want to tell women that they have no rights to govern their own bodies? Would any of them step up to care for all these babies and pay for their upbringing and education until they are adults?I'm truly angry about these very same religious republican dirtbags denying basic healthcare to the mother and child. They have no plan for healthcare for the mother or child - except for eliminating & or limiting Medicaid.But god forbid the fetus of a rapist gets aborted.
@noneofyourbizzness And let's not forget that it's not just adult women who are raped, it is girls, and males may be attacked. At the age of 19, I found the unpleasant experience of feeling a knife blade to my throat. Anyone who pretends to know the experience of their fellow man, has NO CLUE, unless they have had the same experience themself.
Obviously this skel has never investigated a serious and violent rape like a few cops have. There is no way this ass can justify what he said no matter how hard he tries!!
What a tube!
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I can't believe he actually made that comment about women and rape. what an Idiot. I hope nothing like this ever happens to his children, it's to bad he was able to make that public, all the more reason to not have people like that in office. we do not need stupid people running this country.
 @wrdrl We have a ton of stupid people running this country. But we definitely do not need more of them. What a maroon!!! "the rape thing" GAH.
Why makes this moron think he's entitled to blather his opinion?
If you weren't born with a uterus, your views on abortion are worth less than NOTHING.
a person should be allowed to plan when to have a child. so that way the child can grow up happy. i personally wouldnt get a abortion. but i at least know its not my place to chose for others. especially when its a case of rape.
 @Kyo you never know until you are in that situation (esp. if you get pregnant by a horrific act of rape) but good for you for standing up for CHOICE.
 @whirledworld  @Kyo That is the whole key there.... The right of CHOICE... Just because it is legal doesn't mean everyone is going to do it.  I gives a woman another option that can be done safely. Â
 @Kyo So than if someone wants to murder someone else, you have no place to tell them that it's wrong?
 @Robert  @Kyo No one is murdering anyone in a typical abortion. There is no soul imbued in biological tissue that is growing for a long, long time. . Oh...your religion says differently? Well, my does not... so get out of other people's private medical and spiritual lives already. CHOICE is about freedom of religion as well as women's freedom and safety.
 @Robert Glad to see you're against the death penalty.
 @Robert but that and this are very different. at least to me it is. and for that i think taking someone else's life is very wrong.