[ti:Abortion Debate Takes Center Stage in US Election Campaign]
[ar:Steve Ember]
[al:IN THE NEWS]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]Go to 51voa.com for more...
[00:02.93]This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
[00:08.76]The Republican Party's national convention
[00:12.10]opens Monday in Tampa, Florida.
[00:15.15]Republican delegates will officially nominate
[00:18.64]former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney
[00:21.93]as the party's candidate for president.
[00:25.44]Democratic Party delegates will gather in Charlotte,
[00:29.50]North Carolina the following week
[00:31.81]to nominate President Barack Obama for a second term.
[00:36.46]This week, a Republican lawmaker's comments
[00:40.92]pushed the debate about abortion
[00:43.87]to the center of the election campaign.
[00:47.13]Missouri Congressman Todd Akin is a candidate
[00:51.63]for the United States Senate.
[00:54.13]A reporter asked him to explain his opposition
[00:58.84]to the operation, even in cases of rape.
[01:02.73]Mr. Akin said it was his understanding from doctors
[01:07.93]that rape victims rarely get pregnant.
[01:12.37]He said that, in the case of what he called "legitimate rape,"
[01:17.35]the female body has ways to stop a pregnancy.
[01:22.36]And he said the rapist should be punished,
[01:25.97]not the child resulting from the attack.
[01:29.47]His comments were widely criticized
[01:32.66]by both Democrats and Republicans.
[01:36.27]Many described them as "insensitive."
[01:39.98]President Obama and Mr. Romney
[01:43.27]were quick to condemn the statements.
[01:45.82]OBAMA: "The views expressed were offensive. Rape is rape."
[01:50.52]ROMNEY: "His comments about rape were deeply offensive.
[01:54.57]And I can't defend what he said. I can't defend him."
[01:59.66]Congressman Akin has apologized.
[02:02.16]He even approved a political advertisement asking for forgiveness.
[02:07.66]AKIN: "Rape is an evil act.
[02:09.62]I used the wrong words in the wrong way,
[02:11.88]and for that I apologize."
[02:13.47]But some people say the apology is unlikely to stop calls
[02:18.42]from Republican leaders for him to leave the Senate race.
[02:23.14]Political observer Rhodes Cook says the issue
[02:27.40]shows the problem Republican candidates have with women voters.
[02:32.74]COOK: "They saw this being a terrible comment,
[02:37.23]one that made them by extension appear
[02:41.97]to be insensitive to women and their plight,
[02:45.23]particularly as victims of a horrendous crime like rape."
[02:50.37]Rhodes Cook and other observers say
[02:53.52]the comments could provide more fuel for Democratic claims
[02:58.70]that Republicans are leading a "war on women."
[03:03.03]Republicans have faced criticism from women's groups
[03:07.55]for opposing abortion and rules
[03:11.69]that health care insurance pay for birth control.
[03:15.54]On Tuesday, Republican delegates agreed
[03:19.98]to support a call for a constitutional ban on abortion
[03:25.37]as part of their party's platform.
[03:28.44]The statement makes no exceptions for rape
[03:32.93]or the sexual attack of a child
[03:35.99]or young person by a family member.
[03:39.29]The Democratic Party platform supports a woman's right to choose.
[03:45.14]Larry Sabato is head of the Center for Politics
[03:49.78]at the University of Virginia.
[03:52.28]He says social issues like abortion usually
[03:56.82]have a big influence on voter support.
[04:00.47]SABATO: "People have very strong feelings on both sides,
[04:03.78]and it's a single issue for a lot of people.
[04:06.45]Once they know your position on it,
[04:08.40]pro or con, pro-choice or pro-life,
[04:10.66]they decide how they're going to vote,
[04:12.36]They actually ignore economic issues
[04:15.06]and issues of foreign policy
[04:17.27]and a whole wide range of other subjects."
[04:19.06]Both he and Rhodes Cook say it is unclear whether the comments
[04:25.15]will have an effect on the elections in November.
[04:28.66]But they say the comments are likely to live on
[04:33.30]in Democratic political ads.
[04:35.66]And they say that if Mr. Akin continues to ignore calls
[04:41.34]to end his candidacy, the effects could be major.
[04:45.99]And that's IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English.
[04:50.97]I'm Steve Ember.
END OF TRACK. "END OF TRACK." The two men bowed. "Whoever was that person you were talking to?" she enquired, as soon as they stood together. The took of triumph faded from her eyes, she had grown worn and weary. The roses were wilting on the walls, the lights were mostly down now. Hetty, looking in to see if anything was wanted, found herself driven away almost fiercely. I only saw Master Jervie once when he called at tea time, The year 1747 was opened by measures of restriction. The House of Lords, offended at the publication of the proceedings of the trial of Lord Lovat, summoned the parties to their bar, committed them to prison, and refused to liberate them till they had pledged themselves not to repeat the offence, and had paid very heavy fees. The consequence of this was that the transactions of the Peers were almost entirely suppressed for nearly thirty years from this time, and we draw our knowledge of them chiefly from notes taken by Horace Walpole and Lord Chancellor Hardwicke. What is still more remarkable, the reports of the House of Commons, being taken by stealth, and on the merest sufferance, are of the most meagre kind, sometimes altogether wanting, and the speeches are given uniformly under fictitious names; for to have attributed to Pitt or Pelham their[112] speeches by name would have brought down on the printers the summary vengeance of the House. Many of the members complained bitterly of this breach of the privileges of Parliament, and of "being put into print by low fellows"; but Pelham had the sense to tolerate them, saying, "Let them alone; they make better speeches for us than we can make for ourselves." Altogether, the House of Commons exhibited the most deplorable aspect that can be conceived. The Ministry had pursued Walpole's system of buying up opponents by place, or pension, or secret service money, till there was no life left in the House. Ministers passed their measures without troubling themselves to say much in their behalf; and the opposition dwindled to Sir John Hinde Cotton, now dismissed from office, and a feeble remnant of Jacobites raised but miserable resistance. In vain the Prince of Wales and the secret instigations of Bolingbroke and Doddington stimulated the spirit of discontent; both Houses had degenerated into most silent and insignificant arenas of very commonplace business. "It certainly will be. Miss Widgeon," answered Maria, with strictly "company manners." "One who has never had a brother exposed to the constant dangers of army life can hardly understand how glad we all feel to have Si snatched from the very jaws of death and brung back to us." "Just plug at 'em as you would at a crow, and then go on your way whistlin'?" persisted Harry. "Hurroo!" echoed Hennessey; "that's the ticket." "Come forward, keeper," continued the baron, "and state how these arrows came into your hands!" "Yes." HoMEJULIA¾©Ïã2018ÏÂÔØ
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