Hours after delivering a defense of his position in favor of banning abortion without exceptions for rape and incest, U.S. Rep. Steve King seemed taken aback after hearing from a constituent about a real-life example of rape.

King, a Republican who represents Iowa's 4th Congressional District, told constituents Wednesday that humanity might not exist if not for rape and incest.

"What if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled those people out that were products of rape and incest? Would there be any population of the world left if we did that?" he said at the event in Urbandale, Iowa.

Later that day, King held a town hall in Rockwell, Iowa, where Katie Koehler, who said she was a fourth-grade teacher, told him about a former student of hers who had been raped by her uncle and became pregnant at the age of 10. Koehler asked King if there are any exceptions he would consider to his anti-abortion stance.

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"I am concerned about the health and safety of our youth that I’ve encountered, and that’s just one that I can bring up. But I do know out of 34 years of teaching there have been others, so I’m just wondering," Koehler said. She declined to further explain her own views on abortion.

King seemed surprised by the situation Koehler described.

"I have not heard of a case that extreme until today," he said.

“I think, under the circumstances that we’re in right now, I’d rather deliberate on this and try to get you an answer back that’s more thoughtful than I think I can give today. It’s a stunning thing that you’ve brought forward here," King said.

► More:2020 Democratic presidential candidates, Republicans condemn 'rape and incest' remarks by Steve King

3% of Iowa abortions performed on girls age 17 or younger

Six abortions were performed on girls aged 14 or younger in Iowa in 2017, according to the most recent available data from the Iowa Department of Public Health. That number was down, by one, from the year before.

Eighty-eight abortions were performed in Iowa on girls aged 15-17 in 2017, down from 120 abortions for that age group in 2016.

In total, there were 3,269 abortions in Iowa in 2017 and 3,722 in 2016. The number of women obtaining abortions in Iowa has fallen by 51% over the decade leading up to 2017.

► More:Iowa's Steve King has a history of controversial remarks. Here are some that riled people up.

At the town hall Wednesday, King, who is Catholic, went on to say that, "I believe in the sanctity of human life, and I think each one of us are a gift from God."

"What you presented here, I wouldn't want to write a policy that wrote an exemption that excluded all of those others that are so precious," he said.

Koehler pushed back on King's answer, saying, "but then that one person is a sacrificial lamb. That's what I look at it as."

King had said earlier in the day Wednesday that he and many of his U.S. House colleagues, "say they don’t want exceptions for rape and incest because they understand it is not the baby’s fault, to abort the baby, because of the sin of the father, and maybe sometimes the sin of the mother, too."

Polling shows Americans support exceptions

Public opinion polling over the years has found a minority of Americans agree with King's position that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances.

Polling from Gallup in 2019 found 21% of Americans think abortion should be illegal in all circumstances, while 25% thought it should be legal in all circumstances and 53% thought it should be legal only under certain circumstances.

In 2018, the Pew Research Center found that only 15% of U.S. adults believe abortion should be illegal in all cases, while 25% believe abortion should be legal in all cases and the remainder take a view in between.

A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll in October 2018 found 11% of Iowans believe abortion should be illegal in all cases, down from 16% in a 2008 poll. Twenty-eight percent of respondents thought abortion should be illegal in most cases, while 39% thought it should be legal in most cases and 15% thought abortion should be legal in all cases, the poll found.

King asked Koehler to propose a solution for the scenario he raised and said he would get back to her.

"I’m going to ask you to see if you can provide a solution for what you brought up here and give me some counsel on that, and I’m going to think it over … because I don’t want to turn something into an emotional issue that I haven’t thought through fully," King said.

A spokesman for King did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Koehler could not be reached for comment.

Register reporter Robin Opsahl contributed to this report.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

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