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Video: Rep. Todd Akin Claims Women Don't Get Pregnant From 'Legitimate Rape'
Rep. Todd Akin (R-Missouri) said in a TV interview with KTVI-TV, this weekend, that women who are "legitimate" victims of rape do not get pregnant, reports TalkingPointsMemo.com.
Rep. Akin, a Republican, is currently running for a U.S. Senate seat held by Missouri Democrat Claire McCaskill.
During the interview, Rep. Akin was asked if his anti-abortion view applied to rape (video below).
Rep. Akin said: “People always try to make that one of those things, ‘Oh, how do you slice this particularly tough sort of ethical question.' It seems to me, first of all, what I understand from doctors is that’s really where, if it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
Rep. Akin did not provide any scientific proof of his claim, but added: “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.”
In addition to his 'force the woman to carry the rapist's child' philosophy, Rep. Akin has also advocated a ban on the morning after pill and an end the federal school lunch program, which serves over 30 million poor children.
TalkingPointsMemo.com reports that women do get pregnant from rape:
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.”
After the interview, Rep. Akin said in a statement that he “misspoke.”
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Comments
Hey, the guy has recanted and
Hey, the guy has recanted and apologized...back off...and shame on the Republican party leadership...
Right... do you think he
Right... do you think he would have done this if he hadn't been taken to task? Of course not. It is like the kid who apologizes because he's forced to. I would expect that if this "man" didn't have an election in November, he wouldn't have recanted one word of his statement. He was reiterating standard extreme pro-life rhetoric and was busted. He deserves every tomato tossed his way.
It seems the RepubliSCUM
It seems the RepubliSCUM Platform is to include a plank advocating a complete abortion repeal, with no exceptions for rape or incest. Mitt, however, is saying that he advocates allowing abortions for pregnancies that result from rape or incest.
Result: if the RepubliSCUM actually win in November, they put forward their anti-abortion plank. Democrats object, there is a "negotiation" and the end result is that "OK, we'll begrudgingly allow abortions in cases of rape or incest." Ding-Dong, Roe v. Wade is dead, and the status quo returns to abortion "rights" as they were around 1950.
-- Data Ferret
Data...I think that abortion
Data...I think that abortion might only be able to be justified in a verified case that the pregnancy is a serious threat to the life of the mother. And you know that there are women who chose to go to term and deliver even in this situation. Citing that, it seems debasing to consider abortion for less serious reasons. What do you think?
Your position is a personal
Your position is a personal moral belief and not a legal one. For example, you might find hate speech repugnant. However, the KKK has the constitutionally protected right to meet and to share their hateful views. Similarly, abortion is a personal moral choice, which SCOTUS has ruled the government cannot make for you. This is what it means to have a right.
Before you spout off and say that nothing in the constitution says that woman can kill babies, this is a protected action under the right of personal privacy, or control of one's own body. Don't like abortion? Don't have one. I think abortions are terrible, but I respect other people's right to make up their own minds.
Twitter’s tweets and
Twitter’s tweets and Facebook’s Likes help to spread the word on new trends and help customers keep up with who is buying what.That's a surprisingly direct carveout in a section of law that is normally frustratingly silent on expressive uses.I hate big-a– striped scarves.Limbaugh called the 30-year-old Fluke a "slut" and "prostitute" last week after she testified to congressional Democrats in support of national health care policies that would compel employers and other organizations, including her Catholic-affiliated university, to offer group health insurance that covers birth control for women.Apparently, while West was in New York, he decided to list some of the things that bug him about how New Yorkers dress.After filing for bankruptcy in 2009,louis vuitton bags, Escada,louis vuitton, which first originated in Munich in 1976,louis vuitton purses, was taken over by Megha Mittal, the daughter-in-law of steel king Lakshmi Mittal. (Full IPO calendar here.” The marathon auction will be held on Saturday, April 21,www.fixLouisVuittonOutletSale.com, 2012 at 9:00 a.Ut dolor magna aliquyam vobis:
Nice try at hiding your spam,
Nice try at hiding your spam, but an epic fail.
I wish there was a way to report asshats like you.
The insanity principle is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results. The far right, the far left, vegans, creationists and other extremists believe in the insanity principle, religiously.
Knight4444...is every comment
Knight4444...is every comment you post a rant? The same thing was said about the Democratic Party a few years ago except it was being discussed by a credible (at the time) MSM. Since then as the Democratic Party has swerved further and further to the left it is made up primarily of entitled nutcases thoroughly indoctrinated in the "I'm OK, You're OK" bilge...Anyway, we'll see how right you are come November...
Tell us, what does your
Tell us, what does your uninformed rant have to do with the subject at hand? Just another opportunity to display your personal ignorance?
Hey James, you're awake!
Hey James, you're awake! Must be time for your meds. Good for you.
I don't know if you can get
I don't know if you can get pregnant from "legitimate rape" or not. I'm not a doctor. But Tod Akin is living proof that pregnancies can result from anal sex. Thanks Missouri, you are now tied with Texas with your ability to elect the cream of the crop.
I don't agree with him, but I
I don't agree with him, but I believe he did "mis speak". He wanted to say what the article author credited him with saying (but didn't) "... that women who are "legitimate" victims of rape do not get pregnant...". Legitimate VICTIMS (ie: not women who have second thoughts and cry rape, or just have sex with someone so they can say he raped them), not legitimate rape. Anyone who listens to the tape would be able to tell that, but so many are bound and determined to damn someone they dislike they ignore what is staring them in the face and try to convince everyone he said exactly what he meant. How many times have you said something that "didn't come out right"? That's what happened to him.
You're wrong and need to
You're wrong and need to re-listen to the tape yourself. "If its a legitimate rape, the FEMALE BODY HAS WAYS OF SHUTTING THAT WHOLE THING DOWN." Don't focus on the "legitimate" you moron, it's the fact this non doctor is making medical claims based on religion. AND he has a history of misspeaking. I can give him "legitimate" as a fumble but female stopping sperm is pure religious fanaticism. So please do not post here nor vote in any elections, the world will thank you.
The focus IS on the
The focus IS on the "legitimate", dickhead. "Legitimate rape" is what the outcry is about. He didn't say rape was legitimate, he was referring to an actual rape, not one where a woman had second thoughts and decides to accuse he lover of rape. Hence a "legitimate" rape, instead of a fake one.
I have listened to the tape
I have listened to the tape several times. I also think that the speaker "misspoke".
I don't think religion comes into this. However, the following link is rather enlightening.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/akin-appears-to-have-picked-up-conclusions-from-article-now/article_f267f02f-c9eb-515d-9a42-201de9b92d64.html
What's more, the idea that the trauma of rape can reduce the likelihood of conception, is a very old one, dating back at least to the 13th century AD.
It's not relevant to the much better point that the misspeaker hurried onto, that the rapist should be punished, not the child conceived as a result of rape.
I'm confused where you're
I'm confused where you're going. Your link is an article about some religious doctor trying to prove the same. I'm sure the same info dating back to the 13th century was religion based as well. The whole thing is religious.
Atkin's soundbyte that when
Atkin's soundbyte that when rape caused pregnancy, society should punish the rapist rather than the child conceived, and his earlier slip-of-the-tongue that was possibly influenced by the nowadays widely questioned claims of Mecklenburg, weren't EXPLICITLY "religious".
The incidence of pregnancy
The incidence of pregnancy resulting from a single rape event is exactly the same as the incidence of pregnancy resulting from consensual intercourse.
The notion that if a female becomes pregnant, then it wasn't rape sounds a whole lot like the anti-women "teachings" in the Koran. It's about on par with the notion of being able to "cure" homosexuality!
-- Data Ferret
@cantonst no your party is
@cantonst no your party is self destructing and even you know it!!! I've been following politics since 1975 and I've never seem a party sink this low! But of course your proud of the stellar candidates your party trots out there right??? Sarah the milf palin, Rick can Texas secede yet perry, Michele I hate gay people but her husband is queer as hell bachmann, Willard I'm a mormon wanna be god rommey, Newt I'm a catholic that just can't stay married gingrich, Rick I want america to become a theocracy santorum!! buddy your party is dying and in your brain you see it too!! but your heart wants to believe regans sorry ass will somehow rise from the grave and save your party! not happening dude! Even if regans ass returned from hell you guys wouldn't accept him because he not far right enoughfor most republicans today! I give the republican party one more generation and their a foot note of history! like the Dodo bird
I'm new here is ross80477
I'm new here is ross80477 retarded????????? or is he trying to be funny??? Dude you're going to meet your maker one day and like Ricky ricardo said 'you got a lot of splaining lucy'' ross 80477 you need professional help seriously
"Meet your maker?" That's no
"Meet your maker?" That's no more than your unfounded, unprovable opinion. Typical of any theist, you have to make the thinly veiled threat to get anyone to listen to your smug nonsense.
If your obnoxious god exists, he would have a lot of "splainin" to do to me.
If you believe that silliness, you're the one that needs professional help.
Ross is a Tea Party extremist
Ross is a Tea Party extremist hack. He does make sense from time to time on issues, but not often.
I can only laugh at this
I can only laugh at this guy... Because if I don't, I'm going to go on a rant.
The republican party are so
The republican party are so damn desperate for votes that they've allowed the truly mentally ill and religious nut cases to have a front row set at their table. I wonder how many of you out there see it???? the republican party is dying!!! don't you get it???? their no longer a mainstream political party!!! Look at their core base!! these are people that most sane politicians 20 yrs ago would have run away from!! But the republican party has to embrass these nuts in order to somewhat compete with dems for votes! We are witnessing the complete destruction of a major political party!!! republicans are going to be the 21st century version of the Whig party!!!
@ Knight4444: "The republican
@ Knight4444:
"The republican party are so damn desperate for votes that they've allowed the truly mentally ill and religious nut cases to have a front row set at their table."
Are you accusing the Republican Party of having, until recently, discriminated against would-be candidates for office, on the basis of their mental health disabilities, or their membership of particular faith communities? Are you actually praising the Democratic Party for allegedly continuing to practise exactly such discrimination? Isn't that rather bigoted of you?
(By the way, there are only "front row" seats at a table. Somebody sitting behind somebody else who is sitting at a table, isn't actually sitting at the table.)
Their base is dying off and
Their base is dying off and not breeding (or in-breeding). The south is the last bastion of ignorance and why it makes up the vast majority of RED states. Take a minute to: Print a map of the RED states, Overlay a map of each: the least educated, most obese, most likely on welfare, least healthy and lowest income/tax rates. It's the same map. Truly makes you wonder why they would vote for those that say they promote less services. Why? Because the base is that ignorant. And only the ignorant can't see it.
Why do you allow these
Why do you allow these inbred, obese, ignorant people to vote anyway?
Same reason we allow asian
Same reason we allow asian women to drive on our highways, we are a christian nation by golly.
I think the GOP is on the
I think the GOP is on the precipice of some serious ideological shifts. If they keep going right, they are going to end up a regional party. There are people in states like Mississippi who have never met a democrat. The GOP will never just die, but they could fall permanently out of the majority.
People in Mississippi have
People in Mississippi have never met a Democrat because the Klan is pretty much extinct...
Knight4444...we'll see in
Knight4444...we'll see in November. You statements are pretty damning...Expect to see a complete retraction if by some miracle you're wrong. You might want to start composing that right now...
Since the GOP has dropped
Since the GOP has dropped financial support for Akin, asking him to quit, this race is already decided. The GOP has punted.
Yes he's an idiot, moron,
Yes he's an idiot, moron, dunderhead, need I go on? There are still those that believe the holocaust didn't happen and all those people were not exterminated. With all the prof to the contrary some people still believe what they want to believe. Blind Faith.
There is no offense, if none is taken
No offense...but all religion
No offense...but all religion and theology is blind faith...so is love, by the way...
Oh how I hope that somebody
Oh how I hope that somebody sends this clown Todd Atkin the following link to an article that was published in the New York State Journal of Medicine 1st February 1959 edition, which refutes par excellence his unfounded hypothesis that conception is sufficiently psychosomatic a process for it to be preventable by summoning up sufficient grief at having been raped:
Two Unusual Cases of Gunshot Wounds of the Uterus http://www.snopes.com/pregnant/info/bullet04.htm
As the GOP has effectively
As the GOP has effectively disowned Akin, although I haven't heard they officially disavowing his statement, he is not longer anything more than a ridiculed clown. Game over.
You didn't read my link, did
You didn't read my link, did you?
1959 huh? Don't imagine
1959 huh? Don't imagine there's been much written since...
Do you actually think that
Do you actually think that human biology has changed all that much since then? we are not talking disease treatments, evolution or geology, here. Our understanding of the reproductive systems in humans has pretty much reached it's pinnacle. Imbeciles like Akin has a very long way to go before they even see the top of that peak.
The insanity principle is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results. The far right, the far left, vegans, creationists and other extremists believe in the insanity principle, religiously.
Raptor...no, biology has
Raptor...no, biology has probably not changed that much (unless the prevalance of drug (legal and illega) has had an effect) but I imagine our knowledge of it has expanded greatly in 50 years.
And that is my point. We
And that is my point.
We have reached the pinnacle of our knowledge concerning human reproductive biology. Idiots like Akin and the religious right have a long way to go to catch up to even the science from 60 (not 50) years ago. Even doctors in the 50's knew better than the stupidity that Akin is professing.
The insanity principle is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results. The far right, the far left, vegans, creationists and other extremists believe in the insanity principle, religiously.
I heard that story when I
I heard that story when I read a book about the Civil War. I agree that Akins is a clown. I don't know how people like that get in office.
There is no offense, if none is taken
No Offense, but people like
No Offense, but people like you and me vote them in...
I think he's wrong.
I think he's wrong.
Finally, an honest and
Finally, an honest and accurate comment...
Amazing, isn't it? The depth
Amazing, isn't it? The depth of this person's ignorance defies all belief. What's worse, he fully expects other people to believe him, too.
Hi James!
Hi James!
... and yet studies show that
... and yet studies show that pregnancy results at a slightly higher rate for rape as opposed to consensual sex.
Regardless of your convictions, outright lying shows a distinct lack of character. He's certainly willing to break the commandment against bearing false witness to demonstrate what a good Christian he is.
The dictionary defines to misspeak as: 1: to speak (as a word) incorrectly 2: to express (oneself) imperfectly or incorrectly
It's quite obvious that he expressed exactly what he wanted to say, and he certainly didn't use the incorrect word - unless he meant to say "lied" instead of "misspoke".
Finish reading your
Finish reading your definition. You ignore the second part.
Oh, you mindreader you!
Oh, you mindreader you!