SEN. ROBERT KARNES THINKS CHILDHOOD RAPE VICTIMS ROMANTICIZE ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEIR RAPISTS

July 30, 2022

Mountaineer News

Opinion

Photo Credit: WV Legislature Facebook Page

CHARLESTON, WV - The state Senate passed a revised version of the House abortion law bill late Friday night.

While the Senate amended version of HB 302 is largely the same, two significant differences remain: It eliminates criminal penalties and narrows the window for adult victims of rape and incest to obtain a legal abortion from 14 weeks to eight.

Some comments from our lawmakers during the proceedings led to jeers and heckling from from pro-choice observers in the gallery, thus resulting in a paused session and gallery clearing.

Sen. Eric Tarr (R-Putnam) opposed both amendments that were being presented, saying an abortion clinic could have mandatory reporters on staff and a pregnant female could just go in and falsely claim rape to use abortion as birth control.

"If somebody's willing to go in and kill their baby, they're willing to lie as well to get it done."

That led to jeers from the audience and Senate President Craig Blair's first threat to clear the gallery.

Later, after some technical issues were resolved, Senator Robert Karnes (R-11) pursued a line of thought that victims "often romanticize their rapist...” and sometimes mandatory reporters are abusers who are seeking an excuse to have the victim get an abortion to cover their misdeeds.

Karnes' comments led to the second round of jeers that caused Blair to clear the gallery and recess for 15 minutes.

Karnes said he'd be voting against the bill with all of its exceptions.

However, Robert Karnes is seemingly no stranger to using sensationalism to garner attention. In fact, he's often painted our state as a 'National-Foolery' at the expense of West Virginian's with his seemingly shameless efforts for self-promotion. If that's not his goal, then perhaps we should be a lot more concerned.

But here we are again.