Michigan Republican gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon told a local news show on Aug. 19 that she doesnt support an exception for rape in an abortion ban because the birth of the child provided healing for the mother.

Dixons statement is the latest in a series of anti-abortion statements she has made that are woefully unpopular. And she isnt alone.

Republican nominees for governor and attorney general in a handful of key states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, would ban abortion or engage in far stricter enforcement of an existing ban if elected. The big problem for them is that their anti-abortion positions are completely out of step with voters.

Not only do they support total or near-total bans on abortion itself a very unpopular position but they also oppose exceptions for rape, incest or the health or life of the mother. (Abortions in cases of rape and incest are a very small percentage of abortions overall, and exceptions are often very hard for people to access.) Some candidates have even promised to crack down on medication abortion and, in one case, expressed opposition to the right to birth control.

These positions had torpedoed GOP candidates when they publicly endorsed them in the past.

In the 2012 Missouri Senate race, GOP candidate Todd Akin said that women are biologically capable of preventing impregnation when they are raped .

If its a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down, Akin told a local Fox affiliate news program.

In a statement very similar to Dixons, Indiana GOP Senate candidate Richard Mourdock said during a 2012 debate that a child born from rape is a part of Gods plan .

I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, thats something God intended to happen, Mourdock said.

These positions are even more relevant today since the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. Bans on abortion are no longer theoretical. They are very real. So are the bans without exceptions for rape, incest or the health or life of the mother.

Michigan

If Dixon defeats Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Republicans hold control of the Michigan Legislature, they would be able to either enforce the states temporarily suspended 1931 abortion ban, which does not allow for exceptions for rape or incest. Or they would be able to enact a new ban if the old ban is invalidated or remains tied up in court. Similarly, GOP attorney general candidate Matthew DePerno would begin enforcement of the 1931 law if he defeats the Democratic incumbent, Dana Nessel, who refuses to enforce the law.