Marco Rubio tries to downplay his extremist anti-choice views. Fails.

By Laura Clawson
Monday Feb 08, 2016 · 1:33 PM EST
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Marco Rubio is trying to appeal to far-far-right Republican primary voters on abortion while maintaining some plausible deniability for the general election. That’s led to some interesting contortions on the issue, with Rubio saying the only exception he supports on an abortion ban is for the life of the mother … but fine, okay, he’d sign a bill with rape and incest exceptions even though he doesn’t support them.

See! Not an extremist at all, because if it was politically necessary, he’d grudgingly allow those women to exercise control over their own bodies even though he wouldn’t like it one bit. Not one little bit. But he gets it, he really does:

“What do you say to that mom when you look her in the eye?” the ABC host wondered.

“It’s a terrible situation,” Rubio replied. “I mean, a crisis pregnancy, especially as a result of something as horrifying as that, I’m not telling you it’s easy. I’m not here saying it’s an easy choice. It’s a horrifying thing that you’ve just described.”

“I get it,” he added. “I really do. And that’s why this issue is so difficult. But I believe a human being, an unborn child has a right to live, irrespective of the circumstances of which they were conceived. And I know that the majority of Americans don’t agree with me on that.”
No, they really don’t agree with you on that, Marco, and I don’t think you do get it. Because you’re talking about forcing women who’ve been raped or the victims of incest to have to spend nearly a year of their lives pregnant, about allowing their rapists to dictate the terms of their lives.

Somehow, Rubio saying that if it was politically expedient he’d allow these women to reassert control over their bodies and choose how to go forward isn’t all that comforting. Because his position on how much women matter, on whether women deserve autonomy, is clear-cut—despite all his hedging.

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/2/8/1481781/-Marco-Rubio-tries-to-downplay-his-extremist-anti-choice-views-Fails