Idaho lawmaker sparks anger with abortion comments
Mar 20, 2012, 9:45 PM
Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho (AP) – A Republican Idaho lawmaker’s suggestion on the Senate floor that a doctor should ask a woman who says she was raped if the pregnancy could have been “caused by normal relations in a marriage” brought a rebuke from another legislator.
Sen. Chuck Winder of Boise was speaking Monday during closing testimony on a bill to require that a woman gets an ultrasound before an abortion.
Rep. Cherie Buckner-Webb, a Boise Democrat, says Winder’s comments raised questions about the honesty of a crime victim.
Winder, however, says he meant to say he hoped a woman would work with her physician to determine if a fetus resulted from rape or during consensual relations before the attack.
Winder says he never meant to question victims’ truthfulness.
The bill passed the Senate 23-12.
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