ICYMI: Yesli Vega Doubts Women Can Get Pregnant from Rape

Today, Axios reported that extremist GOP nominee Yesli Vega was caught on tape echoing a dangerous anti-woman conspiracy: women can’t get pregnant from rape.

The lie that women can’t get pregnant from rape is a far-right justification for criminalizing all abortions without exceptions. Only days after the Republican-packed Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Vega is positioning herself as one of the most extreme candidates running for Congress.

Vega is even being compared to failed 2012 Senate candidate Todd Akin, best known for losing to Claire McCaskill after saying that “women who went through ‘legitimate rape’ were unlikely to become pregnant, claiming female bodies had a way to ‘shut the whole thing down.’”

One thing is clear: With access to abortion on the line this November, Yesli Vega is too extreme for Virginia.

Read more from Axios below:

Axios: Scoop: Spanberger rival Yesli Vega doubts pregnancy after rape

• Yesli Vega, the Republican nominee running against Democrat Abigail Spanberger for Congress, downplayed the possibility of becoming pregnant as a result of rape when asked about her stance on abortion at a campaign stop last month, according to audio obtained by Axios.

• Vega was then asked, “I’ve actually heard that it’s harder for a woman to get pregnant if she’s been raped. Have you heard that?”

• Vega responded: “Well, maybe because there’s so much going on in the body. I don’t know. I haven’t, you know, seen any studies. But if I’m processing what you’re saying, it wouldn’t surprise me. Because it’s not something that’s happening organically. You’re forcing it. The individual, the male, is doing it as quickly — it’s not like, you know — and so I can see why there is truth to that. It’s unfortunate.”

• Polling released Sunday suggests a majority of Americans — 59% — disapprove of the decision to overturn Roe.

###