Rape and abortion have become a critical talking point in a Florida state senate race, but it’s not the usual “rape victims should not be allowed access to abortion” argument we’ve been seeing over and over again this cycle. 

Via ABC News:

With just days to go until Election Day, a Florida state Senate candidate has used a televised campaign ad to drop a very personal bombshell.

Fla. Senate candidate Lizbeth Benacquisto reveals that she was raped at 19.

“When I was 19 I was raped,” Republican Lizbeth Benacquisto reveals to viewers. “And until now I’ve dealt with this privately.”

The eleventh-hour advertisement attacked her opponent, Democratic State Rep. Kevin Rader for what she said was his assertion, made in his own televised ad, that Benacquisto’s stance on abortion rights made criminals out of rape victims.

“For anyone to go so far in a political ad to characterize or claim that victims of rape or incest would become criminals crosses a line,” she told ABCNews.com today. “I couldn’t stand for any woman hearing that and thinking any of that was true.”

At the center of the controversy is incumbent Kevin Rader, who asserts that Benacquisto’s anti-abortion positions, and especially her financial and campaign support from extreme anti-choice action groups, prove that she wants to overturn Roe V. Wade and make abortion illegal, which would in effect make any pregnant rape victim seeking an abortion a criminal.  It’s a charge that Polifact evaluated and deemed “mostly true.”

Benacquisto is pro-life, and she makes no secret of it on her website and in questionnaires.

Same with her support of the ultrasound legislation, though she has noted in various interviews she has concerns about its impact on rape victims. In a candidate questionnaire from the Christian Coalition of Florida, she added, “I consistently support this because I am pro-life.”

Benacquisto holds support from a handful of conservative, anti-abortion groups. Among those are the Christian Coalition, the Florida Right to Life PAC and the Christian Family Coalition. Though they haven’t donated financially, both Florida Right to Life and the former Christian Coalition executive director have offered endorsements, and she headlined at least one event, a breakfast for the Christian Family Coalition on Oct. 16.

Florida Right to Life believes life begins at conception and ends at natural death, and all points in between are to be defended. It labels abortion “infanticide,” which is a crime. And the Christian Coalition of Florida states, “Although legal in the United States, we believe abortion is no less than murder of an innocent human life.” Using this logic, abortion equals murder and murder is a crime. Therefore, those who have abortions would be criminals.

The Christian Family Coalition, based in Miami, says it “works to introduce pro-family legislation at the state and local levels of government. It informs and educates citizens on where candidates stand on the issues that affect the traditional family unit.” The group’s website includes a link to “abortion,” but contains just news articles and press releases in which it is mentioned.

Each of those three organizations also closely follows abortion-related legislation. They post opinions on everything from parental notice to making the violent death of any fetus — viable or otherwise — cause for a first-degree murder charge.

But none appear to flat-out say they would support abortion regardless of whether a woman was raped, abused by a family member or faced with death. They skirt the issue. For example, Florida Right to Life says, “We promote, uphold and support reverence and respect for human life without regard to condition, quality, age, race, religion, color or whether born or unborn.”

On the National Right to Life page, the only reference to exceptions is a 2005 survey indicating only 0.5 percent of women have abortions due to rape, while 4 percent undergo it for the mother’s health.

Rader’s campaign manager, Michael McCall, said, “The problem with something like that is if you take an organization like Florida Right to Life, their very core is making abortion illegal. They won’t list every case in which they support banning abortions, because they support banning abortions in all cases.”

It’s clear that groups supporting Benacquisto have firm stands against abortion, but they’re not spelled out precisely. What is clear, though, is that the groups don’t offer up any exceptions. So we don’t expect Rader’s campaign to find any.  We rate this claim Mostly True.

Still, the rape admission makes for an extremely uncomfortable campaign moment — how exactly can a candidate respond to such an ad without appearing to denigrate the victim?  Should the candidate then be off the hook for having to stand up for or justify any of her anti-choice platform?  Any approach is inevitably going to be the wrong one, as this Broward Palm Beach News editorial explains:

The contest in District 27 is between Lizbeth Benacquisto (R-Wellington) and Kevin Rader (D-Delray Beach). And this week, Benacquisto and a female Rader supporter began competing for the title of Most Sympathetic Rape Victim.

Somewhere, Susan B. Anthony is pouring herself a very stiff cocktail.

Here’s how it went down: In a campaign ad, Rader accused Benacquisto of wanting to outlaw abortion, including in cases of rape or incest. Benacquisto fired back with an ad revealing that she
was raped when she was 19 and thinks abortions should be legal in cases involving such crimes.

Not to be outdone, Rader supporter Tracy Pafford — who is the wife of state Rep. Mark Pafford — came forward to say she was raped as a teenager and had an abortion. And she was “extremely offended” by Benacquisto’s commercial.

Call me old-fashioned, but wouldn’t most women be nauseated by a political candidate who uses rape to win votes — for either side?

Outside of election season, rape victims are regularly shunned and shamed into silence. Those who seek abortions because their father or uncle or family friend attacked them don’t have the luxury of TV cameras and political donors supporting them. They must have watched Benacquisto’s slick confession — and Pafford’s response — and felt their stomachs lurch.

If female pols can now use rape as a tool to get elected, what was the point of all that marching and bra-burning our mothers and grandmothers did? May as well stay home and let the men do the politicking. At least it wouldn’t feel like such a betrayal.

Mini Roundup: Judge races are getting unexpectedly partisan, as Alaskan conservatives continue to target a judge even they admit is competent, they just feel she might be “liberal,”  and Minnesota judges wear party endorsements on their sleeves.