Usually, we’ll give our side something of a pass when it comes to outrageous statements. Let’s face it: Many politicians are not the brightest bulbs in the room and most of them don’t know when to shut up.
But this response to a question about abortion and rape from Republican Senate candidate in Missouri Todd Akin is close to being the most ignorant and damaging statement I’ve ever heard a politician utter:
Explaining his no-exceptions policy on abortions, Akin was asked why he opposes abortion even when the pregnancy is the result of rape.
“First of all, from what I understand from doctors, (pregnancy from rape) is really rare,” Akin told KTVI-TV in a clip posted to YouTube by the Democratic super PAC American Bridge. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
Akin added: “But 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.”
Akin’s statement threatens to recast a Senate race in which he starts as the favorite, but national Republicans are concerned about his ability to execute a winning strategy. Akin won the GOP nomination two weeks ago — a result that Democrats hailed as a potential game-changer in a tough race for them.
This isn’t a gaffe. It’s a nuclear bomb.
First of all, it is an extremist position to state that there can be no abortion in the case of rape or incest. A majority of pro-life advocates do not take that position, and certainly most Americans don’t. A Gallup poll from May shows only 20% of Americans support a “no exceptions” abortion policy.
Second, I was surprised to learn that this belief in “legitimate rape” (someone tell me how to define “illegitimate rape”) and the mother’s magical, mystical ability to “shut that whole thing down” is actually not something this goofball pulled out of his hat:
Akin’s claim is one that pops up occasionally in social conservative circles. A federal judge nominated by President Bush in the early 2000s had said similar things, as have state lawmakers in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Politicians and activists who espouse this view often suggest that women who haven’t been raped will claim to have been raped in order to obtain an abortion. An Idaho state lawmaker apologized earlier this year after urging doctors to make sure women who claimed they had been raped were sure of that fact.
How bad is it for Akin? It’s not good. The formerly very beatable incumbent Claire McCaskill should now be considered the favorite. By the time election day rolls around, every Missourian will have seen that statement several times. And while Akin may have locked up the anti-abortion vote with his outburst, he did himself no good with the vast majority of Missourians who believe that no woman or girl should have to bear the fruit of such a traumatic crime as rape or incest.
This was the guy that McCaskill wanted to run against, since he polled the best against him.
And it’s not like he’s all that conservative (except socially), the one I voted for in the primary, Sarah Steelman, was endorsed by Palin.
But once again the Republican party proves it’s the stupid party, putting social conservatism above everything else.
He was thinking you get the D&C at the E.R.
“Second, I was surprised to learn that this belief in “legitimate rape” (someone tell me how to define “illegitimate rape”) and the mother’s magical, mystical ability to “shut that whole thing down” is actually not something this goofball pulled out of his hat:”
I think the first part is: woman has consensual sex, gets pregnant, wants an abortion, but the only way to get one is to cry “rape.” It’s a legitimate point, are more men going to be charged with rape, in order for women to get abortions? But it’s a nuanced point and needs to be carefully explained.
The second part is just nonsense and should get him replaced on the ballot if possible.
Whoopie Goldberg wasn’t available for comment.
“Whoopie Goldberg wasn’t available for comment.”
I wasn’t aware she was a Senate candidate.
y’all who disagree with Akins are wrong and let me tell you why. Whether a woman is raped or has consensual sex – a life is now formed…so you’re saying the child has no right to live because of the method? No issue of life or death for the mother…When an ultrasound is performed and the child is suspected of having downs, then an abortion is ok? From what I have read and heard, these types of children are the most lovable kids ever, and the parents often gain much more than the child, in having it live. Same principle, no? Atkins let a lot of words get in the way, but what he said was something a pro-life, true Believer should agree on…maybe that’s the issue, we’ve strayed too far from the right thing? Or not?
He could have defended his position as you just did but he didn’t.
Exactly. Perhaps the most unprincipled position in the abortion … debate is the rape or incest exception; if life is sacred, then those lives are as well. If not, what’s your problem with abortions in general?
But in all my study of biology and medicine I’ve never heard anything like his claims. Like JeremyR I voted for Steelman (holding my nose because she’s in the pocket of the trial lawyers) … this guy is going to find it difficult to win in a Purple state trending Red, even as awful as McCaskill is. If he could capitalize on her problems, from Obamacare to not paying around a quarter million in taxes on her private plane he might win. If he spends his time shooting himself in the foot and then bandaging it….
Good lord, what a f-cking moron.
Is it too late for him to drop out and give someone else a chance to defeat that witch McCaskill
If one believes life begins at conception, then one should recognize the rights to life of the fetus fathered by a rapist. The 13th Amendment, which outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude, would be a ground for aborting a pregnancy caused by rape, But we’ve never heard that one used. So, if Akins is a moron, he has a lot of distinguished company. The pro-abortionist crowd always throws out the rape scenario, Akin put forth the fact that rape doesn’t account for a great many pregnancies. So, the pro-abortion crowd gets their panties in a wad. Who cares?
Anyone who votes for McCaskill is a real moron.
In politics, how you say something is more important than the substance of what you are saying.
And saying “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” is moronic on several levels. It’s sound bite that is going kill him and discredit all of his positions.
I always say thank you when i buy something , even when the clerk gives me that moronic ‘here ya go’….what’s wrong with me? Akins said ….”if it’s a legitimate rape”…in an awkward way, but let’s pull it apart. Girl gets drunk, can’t remember doing the horizontal mambo, pregnant – rape allows her at least the semblance of an excuse to shut it down by abortion – just being drunk and out of it gives her a really bed reputation or at least judgement of character. Right? But as Francis said below, x2.
So you, then, are in favor of executing any innocent bystanders present at the commission of a crime?
Regardless of what caused his conception, an unborn baby is an innocent. We don’t execute innocents in this country. Hell, we hardly ever execute the guilty. So feel free to call me an extremist; I’m on the side of that baby, absolutely.
The rape rate for married women in husband headed households is extremely low, so low as to be pretty much unmeasurable in crime victimization surveys. Therefore, most women who are “raped”, are “raped” while doing something that married women seldom do, either because their husband is apt to forbid it, or because they already get sex at home and therefore have less incentive to do it.
In the vast majority of “rapes”, the basic cause of the “rape” was that the girl was cruising for some dick, found some, and then regretted it when she sobered up.
Sorry, “no” does *not* mean “no” after you drop your panties in the middle of a blow job.
“husband headed households…… ??? “their husband is apt to forbid it….. ??? Sounds like something out of the Warren Jeffs saga.
“in the vast majority of “rapes,” the basic cause of the “rape”……… How about some data/studies that back up your comment?
“How about some data/studies that back up your comment?”
IMO what backs up James. A. Donald’s comment is that James A. Donald is a troll.
The crime victimization survey reports that the rape rate for married women in husband headed households is very very low, or unmeasurably low.
If you don’t like my explanation, suggest a more politically correct explanation.
You should move to Saudi Arabia, where you can live comfortably among like-minded cretins. You’re either the least subtle troll I’ve ever seen or a truly disturbed POS.
If you don’t like my explanation of the crime victimization survey results, what is yours?
What on earth is a husband headed household? No survey will ever tell the full extent of rape anyway as so, so many go unreported – and people like you are a big part of the reason why.
There are really two issues that we’re debating here-
The first is that Akins apparently believes that women who are raped can’t become pregnant. That is just ignorance of basic medical facts.
The second is that he believes abortion is unacceptable under any conditions. Conservatives such as Mr. Moran disagree with his position; many on this thread don’t.
Given that #1 is obviously false, he’s a moron. Although, depending on one’s view regarding the second point, he may be a moron with morals.
so since Biden, the O, Akins, Palin, ad nauseum have all been called morons at one time or another, maybe in order to be a politician that is a requirement? I’m in favor of dropping the use of moron, mostly that it is a given, and overused..or not?
Maybe so. I’m inclined to give people the benefit of the doubt on isolated slip-ups like this one. Plus, the worst defects are not those of intelligence, at least when it comes to our leaders. Knowledge gaps can be filled, but poor judgement and character are fatal flaws- at least to me.
“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
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“legitimate rape” … how did you graduate from elementary school?
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“ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” … Next up, the Nobel Prize for Biology, and numerous un-solicited research grants from Federal agencies which normally bombard Planned Parenthood with funding.
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Mr. Akin, if you have a wife (and I pity her if you do) I sincerely hope that she bops you with a fast-flying rolling pin as soon as you next enter the house.
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If you have a campaign staff, I expect to find them in the Ron Paul camp tomorrow, where they will certainly find a more-qualified candidate. (fyi, this is known as ‘damning with faint praise’.)
If the mainstream GOP is serious about moving into the 21st Century, it should toss this schmuck out the door.
Ask Tod Akin what he considers Illegitimate Rape. I would be interested in hearing him explain it, as would many others.
Nimrod…
I’m a woman doc. Here’s the clinical information.
One: in many cases (one study showed 40 percent) of aggressive sexual assault, the man has premature ejaculation ergo no pregnancy.
Two: Many women who are actually raped go to the ER and we give her the “morning after” pill to prevent ovulation or prevent her from getting pregnant.
Three: most women who are sexually active are already on birth control, ergo they don’t get pregnant. This includes most women who are dating, and suffer from a date rape, so they too don’t become pregnant.
Four: one of the classic studies we learned when I went to medical school in the 1960′s was the study of several hundred women who got pregnant after the French decided to punish one town. Other incidents include nuns raped during the Congo civil war, and of course, the pregnancies/children born after the punishment of women by soldiers in Bengladesh Rwanda and Bosnia…
Yes, it happens. Period.
The Rape of Serbian Women
Rick:
Stop Whining.
Claire McCaskill voted to burden Missourians with taxes and government dependency in the hell that is Obameecare.
For every single voter that Akin loses over this, McCaskill will lose a THOUSAND voters over Obameecare, the economy, lost jobs, and the Democrat assault on Christian values.
That is indisputable FACT.
Akin’s gaffes are temporary. McCaskill’s voting record is permanent.
Stop WHINING and support Akin. Now. Get it together, man!
“Rick:
Stop Whining.”
You realize this is all Rick does, right? It’s his thing. He’ll support Republican candidates only when it’s easy.
If a woman is a victim of rape, her rights are violated and she gains retributive rights against the attacker (the rapist father). The father should be punished, the baby is an innocent “by-product” of this assault.
To argue that the woman then has rights to abort her child would mean that the woman can exact revenge on an innocent human being.
“No woman or girl should have to bear the fruit of such a traumatic crime as rape or incest” If the mother is too scarred about rape that she cannot raise the child, adoption should be the preferable option.
I know this is a highly emotional issue, but we can still think it trough.
Markus,
This issues isn’t about the decision to abort, it’s not even about the product of the rap (a child), it’s all about having the uncomfortable discussion of what our society wants to do about it. Unfortunately for the victims, the Senator’s comments only prove that discussion will not be initiated.
First he de-legitimizes rape as worthy of consideration in the larger debate. Second, he talks about punishment of the perpetrator in ambiguous terms. And finally, he simply drops the discussion all together and talks about the economy in his “apology” tour.
Look, I am a pro-life proponent, always have been. Killing unborn children is unthinkable to me and I am further confounded by those that advocate life for the criminal and espouse legitimacy when saying an unborn child is different.
But that’s only the surface of the discussion and debate. Inside the debate we have some real issues. Issues that deserve attention and correction. Rape and incest are a horrible thing. When pregnancy occurs, there are two permanent victims. Sure, the child can be put up for adoption, but have you ever met a woman that put her child up for adoption? She is often scarred for life.
We need real solutions and that should begin with the end. Abortion and adoption are an ending. What about the rest? Oh we are something, aren’t we? Quick, find a solution, whether it be 9 months and adoption, or one month and abortion, all that matters is that we dispose of the evidence and move on. In my daughter’s case, absolutely no one was ever held accountable. That includes the perpetrator, two state senators, a congressman, the attorney general, a state representative AND the Army National Guard. In fact, her case is nowhere to be found in any of those faulty stats the good Senator chose to use as his premise for his position.
Yet, we have a bouncing baby boy here to prove otherwise.
The Senator opened this can of worms and, I for one, would like for our society to stop hiding the ugly truth of a system that continually fails it’s citizens.
I couldn’t agree more with this opinion piece. I actually lost sleep over this last night. No, I’m not a wing-nut, accused often, but baseless in fact to say the least. But I am a citizen, as simple as that sounds. One, nonetheless, who has faced the harsh reality that our society has changed drastically and the weakest among us are often the most abused by both our system and our society. The Senator’s comments only proves that.
[cross-posted]
As the parent of a young adult who is raising a child that was the product of rape, I am very angry over his comments. Most upsetting is his use of the term “legitimate rape” more than anything. Just because a small percentage of rapes produce a child doesn’t make them any less “legitimate” or worthy of consideration in such a debate. I do agree that the perpetrators, more often than not, never face punishment and that needs to change. However, what the good Senator fails to acknowledge is that most rapes are never reported either.
The stigma associated with a rape born pregnancy has always been and continues to be an awful punishment for the victim to endure on top of now being faced with a decision no woman should be forced into making. He opened this can of worms – he now needs to do something about it. May be he should talk to a few of us out here that have been subjected to the decisions of the majority before he ever speaks on the subject? Oh now, that would be novel. It amazes me how many arm-chair pundits there are with absolutely no clue. We tout obviously faulty “studies” as fact and derive our entire premise from them. I can tell you this, my daughter and her son are real and very legitimate.
Here’s something for each and every person to think about including the Senator. Our Constitution was written to protect the minority FROM the majority and his comments are the typical political speak of one serving the majority.
This so-called gaffe is much ado about nothing. Abortion advocates are the only ones up in arms. Nobody else cares.