Tudor Dixon, a top-polling contender in the GOP primary for Michigan governor, recently argued that young incest survivors who were impregnated by their rapist are a perfect case in support of banning abortion.
Dixon offered that take as she was discussing her aggressive opposition to abortion during an interview on “The No BS Newshour” podcast on Friday.
In the interview, which was first unearthed by the Chicago-based news outlet Heartland Signal, podcast host Charlie LeDuff asked Tudor about her position that abortion should only be allowed to save the life of the mother, and whether the GOP candidate truly believes there cannot be any other exceptions, including incest.
“The question would be like, a 14-year-old who, let’s say, is a victim of abuse by an uncle,” LeDuff said before Dixon interrupted to say “Yeah, perfect example.”
“You’re saying carry that?” the podcast host asked, finishing his question.
Dixon said she knew people “who are the product” of rape and incest.
“A life is a life for me,” the Republican candidate said. “That’s how it is.”
Dixon doubled down on her position in a statement to HuffPost on Wednesday.
“Not everyone agrees with me that every life has value and we should have the courage, as Jim Harbaugh put it, to let unborn children be born,” the candidate said, referring to a University of Michigan football coach who is staunchly anti-abortion. “I know that. I’m not hiding from it.”
Dixon went on to attack incumbent Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) for supposedly being too pro-choice.
“In contrast, Gretchen Whitmer won’t say if she has ANY limits on abortion because she supports abortion on demand for all, including minors (without their parents knowing),” the Republican said.
Dixon has a slight lead over the four other Republican hopefuls in the gubernatorial primary, according to a new poll by the Detroit News that came out on Monday. 19 percent of likely GOP voters said they backed her, while the candidate behind her, Kevin Rinke, has 15 percent of voters’ support.
