Rep. King Backtracks on Rape, Incest Comment

Iowa Rep. Steve King is backtracking from comments he made in a report, claiming he's not aware of any women who were impregnated due to incest or rape.

King told KMEG News that he did not want to comment on his House colleague Rep. Todd Akin, who he still praised as a "strong Christian man." Then King added that pregnancy from incest or statutory rape is not "a circumstance that's been brought to me in any personal way, and I'd be open to discussion about that subject matter."

King now says the quote was taken out of context, and that he does not personally know any women who have become pregnant because of rape or incest.

According to Talking Points Memo, a 1996 Guttmacher Institute report says that half of all underage females who become pregnant are impregnated by adult men.

King is one of the more conservative House members, and earlier this year said LGBT people have the "responsibility" to stay closeted in the workplace in order to avoid being fired due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Last month, King worked with Akin, introducing an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill that would bar same-sex couples from marrying at military facilities and prohibit military chaplains from performing the ceremonies.

Akin, King, and Rep. Paul Ryan, worked together to introduce H.R. 3, which would have restricted federal abortion funding only to women who were victims of "forcible rape." That language was later dropped. 

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