Tagged: Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock

Republican Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock has ignited a national firestorm for his abortion comments this week, but pro-life activists are coming to the GOP nominees defense and see the remarks as a chance to explain their views.

Democrats and Republicans have pounced on Mourdock after he said that pregnancies resulting from rape should not be an exception to an abortion ban because it is the will of God. At a press conference Wednesday, Mourdock stood by his position, but he explained that he abhors rape and apologized if anyone "came away with the wrong impression" from his statement.

Anti-abortion activist Rebecca Kiessling is a spokeswoman for Personhood USA. She says pro-life voters are are proud that Mourdock stood up for life against abortion even in cases of rape, and that critics are deliberately exaggerating his comments to score political points.

"Of course he was saying that the life of the child conceived in rape was created by God. And I believe that he’s in line with the overwhelming majority of Americans and Hoosiers who understand that God is the author of life," he says.

Update: 11:45 a.m.

Richard Mourdock, the Republican Indiana Senate nominee, on Wednesday said the comments he made during a debate Tuesday night regarding pregnancy and rape were not "very articulate," and added that he "abhors" rape.

During the final debate in the Indiana Senate race on Tuesday evening, Republican Richard Mourdock said that pregnancies resulting from rape should not be exempt from an abortion ban because they are the will of God.

During the hour-long debate against Democrat Joe Donnelly and Libertarian Andrew Horning, the GOP nominee appeared to fight back tears while answering a question about his stance on abortion and women's reproductive health issues.

"I know there are some who disagree, and I respect their point of view. But I believe that life begins at conception. The only exception I have, to have an abortion, is in that case of the life of the mother," said Mourdock. "I've struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen."

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Political parties and outside groups have already spent large sums in Indiana's Senate race, and voters can expect to see a surge in the last two weeks of the campaign.

Republican Richard Mourdock holds a huge lead over Democrat Joe Donnelly in fundraising, and conservative Super PACs have been running ads. But Democrats are planning to pump additional cash into the race as well.

With two weeks until Election Day, Democratic Congressman Joe Donnelly released an internal poll Tuesday showing a 2-point lead over Republican Richard Mourdock in the Indiana Senate race.

According to the survey of 603 likely voters, the race is a dead heat with Donnelly at 40 percent, Mourdock at 38 percent and Libertarian Andrew Horning with 8 percent. The memorandum underscores that Donnelly leads Mourdock among independent voters by 5 points in the face of a fundraising gap.

From Global Strategy Group:

"Despite spending millions—and outspending Joe Donnelly by nearly 2 million dollars—Richard Mourdock simply has not been able to convince Hoosiers that he is the right man for the job. Hoosier voters know that for Joe Donnelly, it’s about bringing people together to do what is best for the people of Indiana, not about divisive tactics that put politics ahead of what is best for Hoosiers."