U.S. lawmakers break rape silence as abortion bans spread
As one Republican legislature after another has pressed ahead with restrictive abortion bills, they’ve been confronted with raw testimony about the consequences
The Associated Press
Updated: May 18, 2019
COLUMBUS, Ohio — For more than two decades, Nancy Mace did not speak publicly about her rape. In April, when she finally broke her silence, she chose the most public of forums — before her colleagues in South Carolina’s legislature.
A bill was being debated that would ban all abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected; Mace, a Republican lawmaker, wanted to add an exception for rape and incest. When some of her colleagues in the House dismissed her amendment — some women invent rapes to justify seeking an abortion, they claimed — she could not restrain herself.
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