In an interview (shown in full here) about his position on abortion, Rep. Todd Akin, the Republican nominee for Senate in Missouri who is running against Sen. Claire McCaskill, justified his opposition to abortion rights even in case of rape with a claim that victims of “legitimate rape� have unnamed biological defenses that prevent pregnancy.

 

Quoting Akin:

 

“First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare…If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.�

 

And what if these mysterious biological defenses don’t succeed in shutting “that whole thing down�? Well, too bad for the impregnated rape victim anyway.

 

“Let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work, or something, I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.�

 

Now, forget for a moment your position on abortion, and just consider Akin’s groundless assertion–accented by an astoundingly poor choice of words–that “legitimate rape� doesn’t lead to pregnancy. As pointed out by the website TalkingPointsMemo.com, Akin doesn’t have much of an argument. A 1996 study by the American Journal of Obstetricians and Gynecologists found “rape-related pregnancy occurs with significant frequency� and is “a cause of many unwanted pregnancies� — an estimated “32,101 pregnancies result from rape each year.�

 

According to the Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (RAINN), “In 2004-2005, 64,080 women were raped. According to medical reports, the incidence of pregnancy for one-time unprotected sexual intercourse is 5%. By applying the pregnancy rate to 64,080 women, RAINN estimates that there were 3,204 pregnancies as a result of rape during that period.� So even with a low-end estimate, that’s well over 3000 pregnancies from rape in a two-year period — certainly enough to disprove Akin’s (hopefully) career-ending assertion.

 

Check out the full interview here and judge Akin’s comments for yourself.

 

 

http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml

This just in, there are dumb asses running for public office.

the female body is a magical place indeed.

The guy is an f-ing moron. Of course dems will take this and run with. People just need to know when to shut the heck up.