Five Republican Senate nominees recently announced that they do not support a woman’s right to an abortion even in the case of rape or incest. When asked what women should do if they become pregnant with their rapists’ children, Nevada’s GOP nominee for Senate, Sharron Angle, said, "I believe that God has a plan and a purpose for each one of our lives and that he can intercede in all kinds of situations."

The problem for Republicans is that women voters may not vote for female Republicans solely on the basis of their gender, says Rachel Maddow. "The point of government," says The Nation’s Melissa Harris-Lacewell, "is not to make life so hard for half our citizens that the only force there to help them is God." According to Lacewell, these candidate’s "extreme positions on abortion are without any question a war on American girls and women."

 —Joanna Chiu