Tim Padgett provides a reality check:
[I]n a CNN/ORC poll this year a resounding 83% of Americans said that no matter where they stood generally on abortion, it should always be permitted in cases of rape or incest. But the likes of Mourdock and Akin would be right at home in the part of the world I cover: Latin America.
Whenever they hear pols like Mourdock go off, in fact, Americans would do well to look south of their borders as a reminder that his cruel world isn’t just a delusion. No region has as many countries (five) that ban abortion in all cases, even rape and when the mother’s life is at risk, or sees as many instances of judges and other government officials rejecting women’s requests for legal abortions, especially in cases of rape. Those draconian policies result from a belief, driven largely by the inordinate political power of Latin America’s Catholic and Evangelical churches, that pregnancy of any kind is God’s inviolable will — and the heartbreak it causes is epic.
Earlier thoughts on Mourdock here.
The Dish 