Ralph Reed, the founder of the Christian Coalition, had a moment of pure honesty today, when he admitted that rank and file Republicans may not actually believe that rape victims should be allowed to terminate pregnancies. 

Via CNN:

“I don’t think that the Republican Party has ever nominated someone for president who didn’t advocate for an exception for rape and incest and the life of the mother,” said Ralph Reed, who leads the Faith and Freedom Coalition. “So the party has always had a diversity of views on that point.”

Still, Reed said that diversity is mostly born of political reality, as opposed to reflecting serious debate among anti-abortion activists over whether abortion should be legal in certain circumstances. The fact is that Republican politicians who don’t advocate exceptions for abortion bans are less likely to win election.

To the extent that rape and incest exceptions have been advocated, said Reed, “it’s been mostly for political viability and expediency.”

Reed then goes on to explain that it’s not that big of a deal anyway since “abortions that happen in response to rape and incest are a ‘statistically insignificant portion of abortions as a whole, even as they represent a significant national tragedy.'”

Compassionate conservatism at its finest.