Mississippi lawmaker asked about a hypothetical 12-year-old child molested by a family member says they should have to carry that pregnancy to term

[aubiefifty 18,248]

Mississippi lawmaker asked about a hypothetical 12-year-old child molested by a family member says they should have to carry that pregnancy to term

Kelsey Vlamis

Thu, June 30, 2022 at 9:45 PM·3 min read

In this article:

Philip Gunn

American politician

House Speaker Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, recaps significant legislation that passed this session at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Tuesday, April 5, 2022.Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press

Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn praised the reversal of Roe v. Wade at a news conference.

Gunn said a child victim of incest should carry a resulting pregnancy to term.

"I believe life begins at conception. And every life is valuable," Gunn said.

Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn said 12-year-old who is impregnated by a family member should have to carry that child to term, bucking incest exceptions to abortion bans.

Gunn, a Republican, was speaking during a press conference after the reversal of Roe v. Wade. A Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy was at the center of the Supreme Court opinion that overturned the constitutional right to an abortion. The law includes exceptions for a medical emergency or "severe fetal abnormality," but none for pregnancies resulting from incest or rape.

When a reporter asked Gunn about the possibility of an exception in cases of incest, he said he was unsure "what the Legislature's appetite" would be for adding such an exception to the law.

The reporter then asked if he thought Mississippi's legislature should take another look at the matter, to which Gunn replied: "Personally, no. I do not."

"I believe life begins at conception. And every life is valuable. Those are my personal beliefs," he said.

Another reporter pressed Gunn on the point, asking if a 12-year-old child molested by her father or uncle should carry a resulting pregnancy to term.

"That is my personal belief," Gunn replied, reiterating his stance that life begins at conception.

Gunn added that he wanted the day to be about the reversal of Roe v. Wade.

"I want today to be about the fact that we have seen an end to abortion in this country. These other things that y'all are talking about are certainly things we can talk about moving forward. I do not want those things to detract from the significance of this day," he said.

 

An even more restrictive "trigger law" is set to take effect in Mississippi next week after the attorney general certified it on Monday. That law bans all abortions, with exceptions if the mother's life is in danger or the pregnancy is the result of a rape that has been reported. It does not include an exception for incest.

Exceptions for rape and incest have long been popular among conservatives. Every Republican president since Ronald Reagan has supported exceptions to abortions bans for cases of rape, incest, or harm to the mother, but that appears to be changing.

An increasing number of Republican lawmakers have come out in opposition to such exceptions, including Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts. Of the 13 trigger laws set to take effect upon the fall of Roe, all contain exceptions for the mother's health but most do not include exceptions for rape or incest.

Gunn did not respond to Insider's request for comment.

 

this sickens me to no end and i do not care for abortion i just refuse to tell someone what they can and cannot do with their body. and trust me it sickens me some folks use abortion as birth control versus using the pill or the day after pill. there is no way a twelve year old should have to carry. there is no way she is prepared to raise it much less deal with the damage mental and physical done to her. what about her parents? can they assure the child gets the extra care it needs if born handicapped which is one of the main reasons they came down on incest. the royals almost all over the world use to do it to strengthen their blood lines until they found out it made most folks insane and or handicapped. and now some wanker wants to put a little girl through that?

[icanthearyou 4,468]

There may be temporary "compromise", like there already was but, people like this will not let the agenda die. 

He is a zealot.  He and those who do not care about the issue, only the political value of the issue, are going to keep this going, and going, and going.

[aubiefifty 18,248]

4 hours ago, icanthearyou said:

There may be temporary "compromise", like there already was but, people like this will not let the agenda die. 

He is a zealot.  He and those who do not care about the issue, only the political value of the issue, are going to keep this going, and going, and going.

i know a lady was raped by an uncle from 4 to 16 years of age. she has to have the cartoon network on at night. she has series issues and something like this just would not work.

[CoffeeTiger 5,876]

[homersapien 12,238]

3 hours ago, CoffeeTiger said:

w

Wait until some poor woman gets arrested for trying to cross a state line (and it will happen). The political reaction will be epic.

Who needs a 4 year Trump clown show ? Thanks to him, we've got one that might last decades.

I feel for the human suffering that's going to feed it though.

 

[aubiefifty 18,248]

people do not give a damn about abortion they want that power. and the harm they intend to do to these children after already being harmed tells me this is the case. and some want to give the rapist power to visit their child in some cases while the baby still belong to the child that was raped. i mean how in the hell did we get here? what happened to common sense? we live in  a really unusual time with people believing and doing some really crazy stuff. i always thought and had enough faith in my fellow americans that we would be better than this and instead we have gotten worse. i have gotten to the point where i have to control my fear anymore when i should be relaxing and enjoying the last part of my life. it is really heartbreaking to me. i honestly thought even at our worst we would get better.  the trick is on me it seems.