Shapiro: Abortion advocates want to “stop the baby.” I want to “stop the rape”

Speaking at the University of Missouri on Thursday night, conservative author and commentator Ben Shapiro refused to back down from the stance that “killing babies is wrong” in response to a student’s question about abortion in cases of rape.

After declaring that rape and abortion are “two separate questions” meant as “an emotional argument to muddy the waters,” Shapiro turned from the defensive posture pro-lifers often meet the question with and went on offense.

“It’s amazing to me,” he said, “because the same people on the left” also “want to release rapists from prison after five years.” Shapiro was alluding to a variety of policies pro-abortion politicians tend to support, which conservatives argue are overly lenient on crimes such as rape.

Shapiro continued, “If you really want to stop this from happening, here’s a solution: go prosecute, castrate and kill rapists […] I have another solution. Let women carry guns and teach them how to use them. So any time they are in a position of rape, they shoot the guy.”

“The left’s solution seems to be to stop the baby; my solution is to stop the rape,” he concluded.

Earlier this month, Live Action president Lila Rose appeared on FOX’s Hannity, and like Shapiro, defended the right to life of children conceived in rape. Rose stated:

I think we can do better for women who are victims of sexual abuse and trauma than to say that abortion is somehow a pathway to healing. Abortion is not a pathway to healing; it’s another violent act.

Rape cases are one of the most controversial facets of the abortion debate, which abortion defenders often use to cast the pro-life position as extreme. While polls often find a majority of the country willing to ban most elective abortions, only 19% support criminalizing it in all circumstances.