Richard Mourdock One Of At Least 15 GOP Senate Candidates Who Oppose Abortion For Rape Victims

Indiana GOP Senate candidate Richard Mourdock is facing criticism for saying that pregnancies resulting from rape are "something God intended." (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

HuffPost, Posted: 10/25/2012 5:59 pm EDT Updated: 10/25/2012 6:25 pm EDT

WASHINGTON -- GOP Senate candidates Richard Mourdock and Todd Akin have faced outrage and derision from both Democrats and Republicans for their controversial comments about whether rape victims should have access to abortion.

Akin famously said that women who have been victims of a "legitimate rape" are physically unable to become pregnant. Mourdock, more recently, said he believes that pregnancies resulting from these horrific assaults are "something God intended."

At the heart of these comments is their belief that rape victims who become pregnant should not be able to have access to abortion. While Akin and Mourdock perhaps stumbled in explaining why they hold this view, it's a position that is actually not that uncommon in their party: At least 13 other GOP Senate nominees this cycle, as well as dozens of House candidates and incumbents, agree.

The political action committee Republican National Coalition for Life submits questionnaires to GOP candidates about their positions on choice issues and then endorses candidates who advocate a strict anti-abortion platform. Selected candidates must be "unconditionally pro-life" and "recognize the inherent right to life of every innocent human being, from conception until natural death, without discrimination."

(More here.)