Joining Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock in the annals of WTF? is Rep. Ron Mendive of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho!

The Republican lawmaker sent shock waves through a legislative breakfast meeting when he asked representatives from the Idaho chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union if their pro-abortion rights stance also meant that they support prostitution. As reported by the Coeur d’Alene Press, Rep. Mendive said:

“I think that there’s kind of a double standard…. With abortion there are two beating hearts, and prostitution, there’s just one. If a woman were going to make a choice to be a prostitute, that’s her decision as to what to do with her body.”

ALCU-Idaho executive director Monica Hopkins wasn’t pleased with the comparison, to say the least:

“He was correlating a criminal action with something that is constitutionally protected. Those are two completely separate issues. When we’re talking about women’s rights, and a woman’s right to choose, we are talking about reproductive rights that are constitutionally protected. What Rep. Mendive was talking about in the arena of prostitution is something that the state has very clearly said is an illegal activity… in the same way that someone may choose to rob a bank, but that would be criminal activity that is not constitutionally protected.”