Sharron Angle Opposes Abortion Even With Rape, Incest: 'God Has A Plan' (AUDIO)

Since winning the Republican nomination in the Nevada Senate race Sharron Angle has drawn attention and controversy for a host of conservative policy prescriptions that seem well outside the political mainstream. Now, a Democratic source has passed along a radio interview she did back in January 2010 that could end up topping the list.

In an segment that has gone unnoticed since it first aired, the Tea Party-backed candidate told the Bill Manders show -- a favorable platform for Republican candidates -- that she opposed abortion even in cases of rape and incest. A pregnancy under those circumstances, she said, was "God's plan."

Here's a transcript of the exchange:

Manders: I, too, am pro life but I'm also pro choice, do you understand what I mean when I say that.

Angle: I'm pro responsible choice. There is choice to abstain choice to do contraception. There are all kind of good choices.

Manders: Is there any reason at all for an abortion?

Angle: Not in my book.

Manders: So, in other words, rape and incest would not be something?

Angle: You know, I'm a Christian and I believe that God has a plan and a purpose for each one of our lives and that he can intercede in all kinds of situations and we need to have a little faith in many things.

This is a line of politics that certainly has appeal to a religious conservative base. Indeed, Angle used her pro-life credentials as a cudgel against her primary opponent Sue Lowden. But opposing abortion in cases of rapes and incest is such a rigid platform to adhere to, that it stands to reason Angle's position could prove extremely problematic in a general election.

The Nevada Democratic Party, for what it's worth, has highlighted the comments on their website.

This post has been updated from its original version

Comments

[skygaze]

07:56 PM on 08/13/2010

Keep religion out of my government, keep our government OUT of MY womb! I do not want the government to tell me I HAVE to have a baby, nor do I want it to tell me I CAN'T have a baby. No dictatorship!!!

[ASMom]

06:38 PM on 08/10/2010

I give up, HuffPo! Someone give these mods something to do because you have just become so heavy-handed on the censorship that there is almost no point in being here.

[Wrongwaywillis]

06:39 PM on 08/04/2010

 2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery,
  You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:2-3

Ok Sharon there it is for you to read, please show me where our government has demanded our worship?
A great example of a government of leader trying to do this is Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler of ancient Babylon in Daniel 3.

So Sharon please do try to be accurate when you use Gods word, ok?

[Chico41]

04:36 PM on 07/20/2010

It would be awesome if someone raped this woman, because she would be perfectly fine with it. Wait....would that even make it rape then?? I smell a mean paradox brewing here.

[leenda300]

04:29 AM on 07/11/2010

Angle is SCARY..On the abortion issue in the event of rape or incest of which she is against, is she crazy?????? Does she really believe this "mother" should go thru life rememebring this trauma of her rape or incest every time she sees this child??? I don't what "god has a plan" about but i can assure her it is not the same God i know!!! My God does want to punish victims of crimes such as incest and rape!

[iconoclast6]

11:01 AM on 08/05/2010

If these people manage to return to power, that will pretty much be a wrap for democracy.

[asa9artstew]

09:38 PM on 07/10/2010

Since Sharon Angle likes to discuss how she helped a pregnant girl & her baby find a home, then she should be very willing to find all the homeless & abused children a place, even the pregnant 10 year old Mexican field worker, & the black crack baby whose mother is dead or in jail - maybe her place?!?

[PJ M]

03:17 PM on 07/05/2010

What's next Sharon, banning Contraception ....

[Itchybiscuit]

08:10 AM on 07/02/2010

If there is such a being as 'god' then I'm sure she's sitting on her cloud, fixing a stiff drink and fingering her selection of thunderbolts after divining the contents of Angles' heart. I am in a constant state of amusement while reading the manifestos of these so-called believers and trust that their final journey will be on a downward trajectory rather than the one they fervently hope for.

Itchy.

[Cleanerman]

07:43 PM on 07/01/2010

"God has a plan". Nonsense. People seeking power have a plan.

[greenwitch]

09:55 PM on 07/01/2010

Yep....her religion is all about controlling people, especially women. She gets to have "power" as long as she toes the patriarchal line. To call rapists and incest all part of a "plan" doesn't say much about her "God," does it? Sounds more like "Satan" to me.

[Janetshusb]

01:08 PM on 07/01/2010

To kams: I enjoyed reading your posts. Your decision not to abort was a good choice for you and I am happy to support your right to believe and your church's right to require its congregation to believe that abortion is a sin. No one can take that belief from you just as no one can take from a Kosher family the belief that God says certain foods are unfit to eat. But when you say a law has to be passed so everyone follows your church's belief, I have a problem. You appear to misunderstand something very basic about our Constitution, our history and the concept of religious freedom. Our government from its beginning is a democracy not a theocracy and churches are prevented from legislating their beliefs into law by the First Amendment. Essentially you are advocating a theocracy in which your church decides which behaviors are permissible and which are not. It might help you understand why you can't do this if you think what would happen if a Kosher community passed a law that prohibited you from eating lobster or pork. Their dietary laws work very well for them but not for everybody. It's the same with an anti-abortion belief. It works well for you. But, you do not have the right force everybody to follow your religious beliefs.

[SickHippie]

12:48 PM on 07/01/2010

I think we can all agree that people need to stop pinning their personal beliefs on God. Jesus never talked about abortions, but he made it pretty clear that Christians should stay out of politics unless the law would force them personally to break "God's law". As far as I know (and someone correct me if I'm wrong), the law does not force people to break either of Jesus' two commandments - love God and love each other. In fact, allowing abortions to those victims of rape or incest is an act of kindness, not brutality.

As soon as someone claims to know the mind of God (especially if that person is in a position of power), I am skeptical. I know there are some people who are tapped into a higher consciousness, who have a certain peace and serenity about them. I don't know if that is God, but I do know it is a desirable state of being. I have never seen a single one of those people in the political world, except perhaps the Dalai Lama (and he doesn't seem to have a choice).

[rambot02]

12:32 PM on 07/01/2010

The contention that rape and incest are part of 'God's plan' is just the tip of a very big and very cold iceberg in Angle's heart. I know the majority of Christians don't buy this mishagas, but a disturbing percentage of theocon fundies actually believe that EVERYTHING that happens is orchestrated by the deity they worship with such blind fervor and devotion.

The earthquake in Haiti and the suffering it caused: God's will. Systemic poverty in the Third World: God's will. The winner -- and by extension, loser -- of the Super Bowl, World Cup and your local T-ball tournament: God's will. (It seems God is a big sports fan.)

Even Obama's election is God's will per their thinking, but only as a catalyst for a New Awakening in which God's *real* followers will rise up and *reclaim* America. And that brings us to Ms. Angle's equally scary comments about "Second Amendment solutions" should she and her fellow tea partiers be disappointed at the ballot box this November.

Keep talking, Ms. Angle, because every time you open your yap you lose votes. I guess that's part of "God's plan" too.

=^..^=”

[ChaCubed]

11:27 AM on 07/01/2010

Didn't God have a plan that Huckabee should be the Presidential candidate and, then didn't God have a plan that Palin should be V.P.?

Thank goodness God isn't the decider.

[Danielck62]

09:55 AM on 07/01/2010

That's nice Sharon, telling a rape victim that it is all part of God's plan. This from a woman who carries a gun, just in case she does not like what God had planned for her!

[me again]

11:32 AM on 07/01/2010

She should be glad menopause has put her past her baby days....

[ChaCubed]

12:49 PM on 07/01/2010

10 Points, Daniel62! Bravo.

I assume her response would be, "God wants me to have a gun, that's why it's in the Constitution," so it probably wouldn't have any effect on her, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. :)

[ChaCubed]

09:31 AM on 07/01/2010

Godists say that no one can understand why God does what he does, but then they turn around and claim they know what God does what he does.

Okay, so, God fertilizes eggs in females he knows is going to abort them. We shouldn't be surprised: after all, this is the same God who fertilized a female's egg for the specific purpose of killing it after it was born.

[Danielck62]

09:53 AM on 07/01/2010

Man, you do realize that there is no reasoning with this people right? The use of God and its mysterious ways becomes their triumph card and at that point is like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.

[ChaCubed]

11:14 AM on 07/01/2010

I know that. I understand because there are things which I can't be reasoned with about either. :) I.E., I think the pregnant female is the one to decide whether she is going to try to maintain the pregnancy or end it.

[VPN]

11:34 AM on 07/01/2010

Reminds me of a bumper sticker I once saw, "If its in the Bible, Its True, I believe it"