North Dakota Senate Candidate Voted To Make Abortion In Case Of Rape, Incest Carry Life Sentence

FILE - In this March 31, 2012, file photo, Rep. Rick Berg, R-N.D., speaks before the North Dakota GOP Convention in Bismarck, N.D. (AP Photo/Will Kincaid, File)

BuzzFeed:

Rick Berg, North Dakota's at-large congressman and a candidate for Senate, voted to criminalize abortion in the state as a Class AA felony, including in the case of rape or abortion.

Read the whole story at BuzzFeed

Comments

[ah12]

11:37 PM on 09/10/2012

This is absolutely disgusting. What sickens me is that these people think they are doing something morally right. Are you telling me a 9 year old who gets raped by her uncle should be forced to have a kid? Is this man insane. First of all, it is extremely unhealthy for any young girl's physical and mental health to be raped, let alone forced to have a pregnancy?! How would any of these people feel if their daughters got raped and pregnant? I really wonder if their views would change, because I know young girls that have gotten raped and it is extremely sad. What is the meaning behind this? Are we going to blame a child for getting raped, and force pregnancy as punishment? I don't want to live on this planet anymore...

[CJ1]

05:32 PM on 09/08/2012

This is tantamount to criminalizing a person's lack of belief and obedience to HIS GOD, his religion, his holy book. HE should be jailed for attempting to violate my constitutional right to freedom from religion, intimidation, as a slew of others. Any lawyers out there? I will pitch in for your costs...

[DixieDoodle]

12:41 PM on 09/05/2012

So they want to force a girl/woman to carry a baby conceived in violence to term. Well, if you are going to do that, you might as well set up a monitoring system to make sure the woman is going to the doctor, eating right, sleeping enough etc. And please make sure she is getting counseling so that a healthy baby will be born. After the baby is born these guys can walk away knowing their job is done and leave the baby and mother to fend for themselves.

[tutibugjl]

11:13 PM on 09/10/2012

Apparently that is what is going to happen. :/

[insanityfollows]

10:22 PM on 09/04/2012

The French used to hang and guillotine people for performing illegal abortions. Everyone needs to watch the French film called "The Story of Women". The Europeans have seen the light for providing healthcare for its people, and that includes safe and legal abortion and family planning. The French also provide 6 months of paid maternity leave for its mothers, and more mandatory paid vacation time for its people than any other western nation. And guess what? They have happy, un-stressed, and THIN citizens and happy and healthy children! Like I said, the French (and all Europeans) have seen the light. This bozo needs to go live in some restrictive regime somewhere. He no more understands the needs of women and their families than the repressive regimes around the world. He fits their political ideologies, not ours.

[sshepherd70]

05:07 PM on 12/21/2012

The truly sad part is rhat his ideas are in line with the general thinkig of most Republicas and he will probably be elected senator. In the US Senate he will have a voice in what effects all Americans, that is why we need to do all i our power to vote all Republicans out of office, Local, State and Federal. Favoriter & Fanned

[Azraile]

07:16 PM on 09/04/2012

Ah yes I see how this works.

We let some poor girl sit around slowly losing her grip on reality as she watches her belly distill with some unholy seed in her womb, a constant reminder to the terrifying event that's scared her life. The twisting pulsing mass pressing agents the inside of her skin forcing her to relive that bloody moment again and again until, finally snapping, she repeatedly stabs it and spends the rest of her life in jail.

A truly brilliant law!

[Shaina Carey]

05:45 PM on 09/04/2012

So a 12 year old rape/incest victim gets an abortion for the sake of her health should rot in jail? Good to know the War on women is fake

[Andrew Baker21]

05:31 PM on 09/04/2012

Oh yes Rick, you got the women's vote now. *Sarcasm*

[CJ1]

05:33 PM on 09/08/2012

Maybe he forgot that its only in his fantasy world where they CAN'T vote...

[sshepherd70]

05:10 PM on 12/21/2012

Your BIO is so true and should be applied to women who vote for people like Rick.
Favorite & Fanned

[JustaSlob]

02:04 PM on 09/04/2012

Rick Berg: "yea...and they shouldn't drive either"

[cats530]

01:37 PM on 09/04/2012

"Dobson leveraged his fame and wealth to build a kingdom of crisis that counseled the trauma-wracked Middle American masses with Christian oriented solutions to their personal problems. Then he marshaled them into apocalyptic morality crusades against abortion and homosexuality. When his "Christian" army reached critical mass, Dobson set them against the Republican establishment, flexing his grassroots muscle to destroy the ambitions of moderates such as Bob Dole and Colin Powell, and propelling movement figures such as DeLay and George W. Bush into ascendancy. As Dobson consolidated his status as Republican kingmaker, the destructive tendencies of his closest allies began exploding, plunging the party into Gomorrah-like revelations of bizarre sex scandals and criminality."

Republican Gomorrah

[JustaSlob]

01:25 PM on 09/04/2012

I wish the Onion would run that "Mega abortion complex" story again. People like Berg were goin nutz..... hilarious !!

[plcsail]

01:25 PM on 09/04/2012

Every week the GOP gets nuttier, and more dangerous.

[Long Island girl]

01:24 PM on 09/04/2012

Really - what is wrong with these people????

[cats530]

01:27 PM on 09/04/2012

everything.

[JustaSlob]

02:06 PM on 09/04/2012

x2

[RuffNReddy]

01:19 PM on 09/04/2012

This all harkens back to the idea that if one were forced to carry a child to term, they may or may not be in a position to keep this child. i.e. put it up for adoption or foster care. Or try to raise it under questionable circumstances (poverty, underage, drug addiction). Not to mention being "unwanted" in the first place and being reminded of this your entire life. (granted, this isn't true for every unplanned birth...).

Problem is, once these babies are in the foster system, it only exasperates the gap that separates the poor without resources and the upper class who call the shots. These "unwanted" babies are the wedge that broadens the divide. We all know how difficult and selective the adoption process is.

Furthermore, this easily positions them as future military potential--- possibly raised without many resources (rural, inner-city), directionless (drop-outs, jobless), "unloved" and drawn to the camaraderie of military life and the hopeful post-tour payoff (college, benefits). These children are a prime commodity for the war mongering, male-centric mentality of the GOP and the shrinking interest in military service.

Far fetched? I beg to differ.

[the crustybastard]

01:04 PM on 09/04/2012

EDITORS: "...as a Class AA felony, including in the case of rape or abortion" probably should read as: case of rape or incest.

Interestingly, neither rape nor incest is a Class AA felony in North Dakota.

[PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS]

12:51 PM on 09/04/2012

The GOP is reaching the point of pure unuadelteraed twisted evil...............How can you demand a woman who has been brutally raped carry a sick reminder of that act in her body every day for 9 months???

And if it was his wife, daughter, sister or mother would he force her to carry the birth to term?

[RuffNReddy]

01:19 PM on 09/04/2012

These MEN live in a fantasy world where the women they know aren't susceptible to sex-related issues--- be it violent or pleasure. It's out of their scope....until they get caught with a hooker, of course! (Can you believe these dolts want to run a country??)

[cats530]

01:20 PM on 09/04/2012

of course, he wouldn't force his wife, daughter, sister or mother. He's a hypocrite - just like the rest of these men who want to regulate women's uterii.