Yesli Vega Questions Whether Pregnancy “Less Likely After Rape”

Extremist GOP nominee Yesli Vega was caught on tape promoting the false, dangerous conspiracy that victims of rape are less likely to become pregnant, a position that will haunt her from now until November.

Experts called Vega’s comments, which became public just days after the Republican-packed Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, “‘very damaging’ to her prospects in the swing district.” As women in Virginia face the terrifying reality that their right to safe, legal abortion is no longer constitutionally protected, Yesli Vega will have to answer for her dangerous extremism at the ballot box.

Washington Post: Spanberger’s rival questions on tape whether pregnancy less likely after rape
By Meagan Flynn
June 27, 2022

• “Yesli Vega — the GOP nominee in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District vying to unseat Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) — drew outrage Monday after audio published by Axios Richmond appeared to capture her theorizing inaccurately about why rape might not lead to pregnancy in a conversation about abortion and exceptions to abortion bans.”

• “Vega’s comments perhaps mark the opening salvo in the role abortion policy will play in the 7th District race following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade — a development that political analysts have anticipated could energize Democratic voters in a midterm election year in which Republicans have claimed much of the momentum.”

• “And Vega’s remarks, political scientist Stephen Farnsworth said, immediately ‘add fuel to that fire.’” 

• “Her comments elicited swift condemnation from Virginia Democrats and drew comparisons to other Republican politicians who infamously tanked their campaigns after making controversial comments about abortion and rape.”

• “The Washington Post requested an interview with Vega, including to ask questions about her positions on abortion policy in post-Roe America. She did not agree to an interview, instead sending a statement through a campaign spokesman that did not touch on her positions on abortion or her comments.”

• “A campaign spokesman did not immediately respond to questions about what Vega was referring to or to answer specific questions about Vega’s positions on a national abortion ban or about exceptions in cases of rape, incest and when a mother’s life is at risk, among other questions.”

• “In a statement to The Post, Spanberger said Vega’s comments in the audio published by Axios were ‘devoid of truth, shamefully disrespectful toward victims of rape, and clearly indicate that she is not qualified to be making serious policy decisions on behalf of our fellow Virginians.’”

• “Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington, anticipated Democrats would make these comments a central rallying cry against Vega for the remainder of the campaign, especially given how last week’s overturn of Roe is ‘going to turbocharge Democratic voters.’ He called her comments ‘very damaging’ to her prospects in the swing district[.]”

• “Farnsworth and others noted the 2012 Senate campaign of Missouri’s Todd Akin tanked after Akin claimed inaccurately that it was ‘really rare’ for pregnancy to occur after rape and that ‘the female body’ would be able to ‘shut down’ a ‘legitimate rape.’”

• “Vega’s position on Roe has been unambiguous. She cheered the leaked draft Supreme Court ruling in May and celebrated Friday when the ruling overturning the constitutional right to abortion officially came down, saying she was glad the power to decide abortion policy ‘was returning to the state where we have a pro-life Governor at the helm.’”

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