More on the Inconsistency Between Fetal Personhood and Rape Exceptions for Abortion

The Washington Post (op-ed column): On abortion, a matter of exception, by Ruth Marcus:

There’s something off — something a bit cowardly, actually — about the positions of both parties in the abortion debate refueled by the asinine remarks of Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.).

Akin’s comments have left Republicans scrambling to avoid the politically unpalatable implications of the anti-abortion views central to their party. Democrats, meanwhile, are delighted to focus on a tiny subset of abortion exceptions — even as they shy away from standing up for the broader principle that women get to decide whether to continue an unwanted pregnancy, no matter how it happened. . . .