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Prince William County Supervisor Yesli Vega, the Republican nominee in the 7th Congressional District, is coming under fire for her recent comments on rape, pregnancy and abortion.
聽on Monday released audio it obtained of Vega speaking with an unidentified person at a campaign event in Stafford County in which she was asked about exceptions to abortion restrictions.
The audio was released in the wake of Friday鈥檚 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which had guaranteed a federal protection for abortion. The ruling returns the issue to states, many of which have trigger laws to quickly and broadly implement abortion restrictions.
In the audio, Vega says, “The left will say, ‘Well what about in cases of rape or incest?’ I’m a law enforcement officer. I became a police officer in 2011. I’ve worked one case where as a result of a rape, the young woman became pregnant.”
Vega is a deputy of the Prince William County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, which primarily oversees administration of the local court system. She previously served in the Prince William County, Alexandria and Manassas Park police departments.
Vega, who was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2019 and is one of its most conservative members, provided InsideNoVa with a statement through a campaign spokesperson.
“Liberals are desperate to distract from their failed agenda of record high gas and grocery prices, and skyrocketing crime,” Vega said.聽鈥淔or all the left-wing bloggers and media, as a mother of two children, yes I鈥檓 fully aware of how women get pregnant. [Democratic Congresswoman and Vega opponent] Abigail Spanberger and the radical left would rather lie and twist the truth than explain her extreme support for on-demand, taxpayer-funded abortions, even up to the moment of birth.鈥�
The Hyde Amendment, approved in 1976, prohibits federal funding for abortions.
Rapes can result in pregnancy, but the frequency and likelihood of such a pregnancy is less certain because of a lack of studies and underreporting of rapes.
聽of 4,008 American women estimated that the rape-related pregnancy rate is 5% per rape for victims between ages 12 and 45. The study estimated 32,101 pregnancies resulted from rape each year.
The study found that 50% of the women had an abortion, 32.4% didn鈥檛 discover they were pregnant until the second trimester, 32.2% opted to keep the infant and 5.9% placed the child for adoption.
聽estimated that the probability of a rape-related pregnancy was between 4% and 10%. The study suggested that the rate could be higher based on wartime rape data theorizing that fear, anger and stress could trigger ovulation.聽聽suggests a similar conclusion.
However, the Life Issues Institute, a pro-life organization, downplayed the potential of pregnancy from rape.聽聽cites stress and trauma as factors that would decrease the likelihood of a rape-related pregnancy to around 225 a year.
A 2004 survey from the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion rights research organization, estimated that聽聽stemmed from rape. Based on its estimated number of abortions in 2019, 862,000, about 8,620 of those would be because the person was raped.
Guttmacher said the two most common reasons for abortions in 2004 were that 鈥渉aving a baby would dramatically change my life鈥� (74%) and 鈥淚 can鈥檛 afford a baby now鈥� (73%).
Women also cited possible problems affecting the health of the fetus (13%) or concerns about their own health (12%) in the study.
When asked for comment on any regulations Vega would support on abortions, the spokesperson provided a tweet that Vega posted after the Supreme Court decision. In it, she says the decision puts control back with state governments 鈥渢o make their own careful and deliberate decisions on the issue of abortion as the representatives closest to the wishes and [desires] of their citizens.鈥�
Vega added, 鈥淭he federal government was never meant to have this kind of power.鈥�
Vega will face Spanberger in the November election. In a statement, Spanberger called Vega鈥檚 comments 鈥渆xtreme and ignorant.鈥� She said in the wake of the Supreme Court鈥檚 decision, the comments were 鈥渆ven more horrifying and disrespectful to the millions of American women who have or will become pregnant due to sexual violence.鈥�
鈥淢y opponent鈥檚 views are devoid of truth, shamefully disrespectful towards victims of rape, and clearly indicate that she is not qualified to be making serious policy decisions on behalf of our fellow Virginians,鈥� Spanberger said. 鈥淚 will continue to work tirelessly to ensure a woman鈥檚 right to choose and the fundamental right to privacy.鈥�
Vega faced widespread criticism online from Democrats after the Axios story was published.
鈥淭his woman is running around in law enforcement spewing this kind of crap?鈥� Del. L. Louise Lucas wrote in a tweet. 鈥淪he’s a complete disgrace to everyone else wearing that uniform.”
Redistricting moved the 7th District from a swath of central Virginia west of Richmond to Northern Virginia. It now covers eastern Prince William, the city of Fredericksburg and all of King George, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, Culpeper, Orange, Greene and Madison counties plus about 35 voters in Albemarle County.
