Missouri lawmaker apologizes for 'consensual rape' comments

Rep. Barry Hovis, the Republican who represents Cape Girardeau County, apologized after making comments about "consensual rape."

“Let’s just say someone goes out and they’re raped or they’re sexually assaulted one night after a college party — because most of my rapes were not the gentleman jumping out of the bushes that nobody had ever met,” Hovis said during a debate over a restrictive abortion bill, referring to his time in law enforcement. “That was one or two times out of a hundred. Most of them were date rapes or consensual rapes, which were all terrible.”

Hovis said he meant to say "date rapes or consensual or rape."

"It's my apology if I didn't annunciate the word 'or,'" Hovis said.

The Missouri House approved the abortion bill after its passage in the Senate.

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