(Joshua Paladino, Headline USA) With Pennsylvania‘s GOP race for the US Senate largely neck and neck between two well-heeled candidates with RINO credentials, a pro-life conservative used the recent focus on abortion to elbow her way into the spotlight.
Candidate Kathy Barnette shared a video on May 3, in which she revealed that her mother conceived her after being raped at age 11, Breitbart reported.
I’m the byproduct of rape. My mother was eleven when I was conceived.
In the world the Left desires, I would never have been born.
We need leaders with a steady hand to direct our nation through these difficult discussions.
Help me by sharing my story:https://t.co/JNGw8gNts0 pic.twitter.com/lqzufvxzQR
— Kathy Barnette (@Kathy4Truth) May 3, 2022
The debate about abortion has dominated the news cycle since Politico leaked a draft of the Supreme Court’s opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health.
If the final opinion reflects the draft, then at least five justices will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the two cases that have prevented states and localities from protecting unborn children.
Only two weeks ahead of the May 17 primary, Barnette’s timely story could ignite her campaign to win the Republican nomination for the Pennsylvania Senate seat.
She learned about her mother’s pre-teen pregnancy after she looked at her birth certificate when she was deciding to enter the Army Reserves, where she served for 10 years.
“I saw her age, and she was 12, and that just really struck a chord in me, because I realized how young my mother was when something so horrible had visited upon her,” Barnette said. “Even to this day, it’s a very hard word to say, but my mother was raped, given her young age, at 11 years old, my father being 21.”
Barnette’s mother bore the suffering with courage and never considered ending her daughter’s life.
“I thank God it wasn’t a choice for me,” Barnette’s mother said.
She has hovered in second or third place in the polls, trailing Dr. Mehmet Oz—whom former President Donald Trump endorsed—and globalist businessman David McCormick.
A poll from The Trafalgar Group—one of the most reliable pollsters in recent elections—showed Barnette at 18% support, followed closely by McCormick at 20% and Oz at 23 percent.
Barnette said that children conceived in rape should have the same dignity as all other human beings.
“Even among Christians, even among staunch conservatives, an exception to the rule of being pro-life, for many, is in the case of rape, and yet my life has value,” she said.
America-First patriots, including Sen. Doug Mastriano and Gen. Michael Flynn, endorsed Barnette, but Trump chose to endorse Oz, a softer Republican and fellow television celebrity.
