Republican Barry Hovis later apologized, saying he misspoke. "When you talk about consensual rape, there's no such thing," he said. "It's either consensual or it's rape."

Jacob Wiegand / AP

Missouri state Rep. Barry Hovis, a Republican, used the term "consensual rape" when arguing in favor of a proposal that would ban abortions in the state after eight weeks of pregnancy — even in cases of incest or rape.

Hovis, a retired law enforcement official, apologized Friday. He said he misspoke during the debate on the bill. Hovis took to the floor to say that many of the sexual assault cases he'd handled during his career did not involve strangers.

"Most of my rapes were not the gentleman jumping out of the bushes that nobody had ever met. That was one or two times out of 100. Most of them were date rapes or consensual rapes," Hovis said.

Well... here’s Republican Missouri State Rep. Barry Hovis using “consensual rapes” as a justification for helping to pass Missouri’s new abortion bill. @ksdknews



Shortly after Hovis's comments, Democratic Rep. Raychel Proudie told members on the House floor that "there is no such thing as consensual rape." Missouri's Republican-led House passed the bill Friday, and Republican Gov. Mike Parson has pledged to sign it. If he does so, many of the bill's provisions would take effect in late August.



Christian Gooden / AP