Well, glad we don't have to worry about pregnancies from "legitimate" rape
Or so claims Todd Akin, GOP Representative of Missouri, and candidate for Senate in that state. Because, of course, in "legitimate" rape (as opposed to rapes that are, one assumes, "illegitimate" or not really rapes, because, y'know, so many women who cry rape are just trying to get back at those guys, y'know what mean?), God has granted women's bodies the ability to "shut down" and prevent pregnancy from happening.
Except, apparently, in some rare cases where that doesn't happen, in which case we shouldn't punish "the child", just the rapist.
As polls analyst Nate Silver put it in a tweet (https://twitter.com/fivethirtyeight/statuses/237263430216712192), "Is it possible to win a Senate race with 0% of the women's vote? Asking for a friend."
I will say that I've often felt that folks who feel strongly that abortion is the killing of an innocent life should not agree to an exception for rape or incest because it begs the issue of an innocent life being involved. Akin is at least consistent in that aspect, even if he has a very odd understanding of female physiology.
Google+: View post on Google+
Jaw drop. I'm speechless.
Yeah, that one's a bit out there to say the least. I'm not sure what differentiates a rape from legitimate to illegitimate nor how the female body shuts down in either case.
I did like how the host just sits there and goes "mmmhmmm" when most people watching were probably thinking "What did he just say?"
Apparently Akin suggested that an anti-marital rape law could be used by manipulative and shrewish women as leverage in divorce settlements. I guess that's the sort of thing he would lump under "illegitimate" rape.
And, yes — it's a sort film clip (so I have no idea what the host actually did in reaction), but it wouldn't surprise me if he simply nodded and moved on to his next question. Because heaven forbid that a journalist should question anything one of his interviewees actually says.
Akin now says he "misspoke" during his "off-the-cuff remarks" and he has "deep empathy" for women who are ("legitimately", one presumes) raped.
The moron should name these “doctors” who misled him so. But they probably have names like Dr. Jim Bean and Dr. Jack Daniels, encountered at the Neocon Bar & Lounge.
@RAndy – Apparently there’s quite a strong anti-abortion subculture that has been touting this theory for a while (and, of course, finds enough folks with “Doctor” in their name to lend it a veneer of credibility.
So what's the part he didn't really mean? That women have a sperm forcefield, or that they shouldn't get an abortion if it fails?