Steele made his comments today on NewsChannel8’s “NewsTalk” in response to a question about the controversy surrounding Republican congressman and Missouri senate candidate Todd Akin, and specifically whether opposing rape even in cases of rape and incest is a mainstream position. Steele argued that many people who consider themselves pro-life recognize such limits.
“There’s a wide array of views on the issue, and there are a lot. I think recent polls
have showed a bare majority of Americans — 50, 51 percent of Americans — call themselves pro-life, but even in calling themselves pro-life, they recognize the exemptions for rape, incest and life of the mother. So this view held by [Rep. Todd Akin] is way outside that mainstream of American thought.”
Steele added that Akin would most likely stay in the race until the end with the help of “grassroots money.” He followed up by telling POLITICO that not all Republicans agree with everything in the platform, so despite his personal views, Mitt Romney should not try to get the platform position on abortion changed.
“I think that view that [Romney] personally holds has been made public for sometime… Even if [the lack of a rape exemption] does become an official platform, that’s not going to change his view on the subject. Not everybody in the party agrees with everything that’s in the platform.”
h/t POLITICO