Say goodnight, Todd Akin

Washington Post ^

[Arthurio]

No wonder Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill wanted to run against Rep. Todd Akin, even investing in his GOP primary victory two weeks ago by spending $2 million on ads that described him as “too conservative.’’ Missouri Republicans saw that as a plus, just as she’d hoped. But after his Sunday comment that “legitimate rape” rarely leads to pregnancy, even some in the GOP are calling for him to step aside.

The Republican lawmaker was trying to explain why he opposes abortion in cases of rape, but instead marched straight into the tar pits, where he will hopefully serve as a warning to future candidates that the reproductive info gleaned at summer camp may not hold up that well in TV interviews half a century hence.

Rape as a result of sex by force “is really rare,” Akin told KTVI-TV. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

[RginTN]

Only Joe Biden gets a pass for gaffes then?

[Arthurio]

Anyone this stupid tends to be stubborn as a mule as well. I don’t see him dropping out.

[Uncle Chip]

You defenders are insane. Missouri is not Texas or Wyoming. He has NO chance now.

Missouri is not Kansas either.

[Chunga]

This whole thing will blow over by Tuesday and Akin will win by a large margin.

You've lost your mind.

[RIghtwardHo]

Hang back and see what he meant??? I don’t care what he’s “pro”. This is SO bad, SO heinous that he must go. Certain sins can not be forgiven just because of other “good deeds”. At this point, his pro-life credentials mean nothing.

[zeestephen]

No one here seems to understand what he meant by “legitimate rape.”

He is saying women who have NOT been raped will make that claim so they can take advantage of the law or financial assistance to rape victims.

We need to stand up for this guy.

The same way Democrats ALWAYS stand up for their guys.

[JaguarXKE]

What are you talking about?

[Chunga]

Again, from the article:

Rape as a result of sex by force “is really rare,”

What the hell is "rape as a result of sex by force?" The writer and the editor are idiots!

[Uncle Slayton]

He said that medical doctors told him that the female reproductive system shuts down when it is legitimacy being raped and I’m sure that he will have a press conference with those doctors and he will clear all of this up in a few days.

[RIghtwardHo]

Agreed. I can’t believe they have, but so the GOP elite have convinced me to sit this one out. 2016 it is. here’s hoping for conservatism with some people who actually have a brain.

[rwfromkansas]

Workplace number of state GOP chairman (lawyer): 417-847-2734

Very important to make him know how serious this is....calls just to the GOP office may have no real effect.

[kalee]

Correct in that pregnancy seldom results in forcible rape cases. I have posted the stats. .5 to 5% of forcible rapes result in pregnancy. Guttmacher said .5 based on interviews they did with women seeking abortion. The NIH says 5%. Dr Willke founder of Right to Life. "First, let's define the term "rape". We should use the phrase "forced rape" or "assault rape" for that specifies what we're talking about. Rape can also be statutory. Depending upon your state law, statutory rape is intercourse with a girl under a certain age, often 16. Statutory rape can be consensual, but it is still statutory rape. Another category is "date rape". For some reason, this is supposed to be different, but, forced rape is still rape, regardless of whether it occurs on a date or behind the bushes. If a college woman is raped on a date, she should report it to the police and pursue charges. Further, she should undergo a medical examination and treatment, just as she would in the aftermath of an assault rape. It is not a separate category. Assault rape pregnancies are extremely rare...How many forced rapes result in a pregnancy?...There have been some studies. In a statistical abstract of the U.S. in 1989, there were 90,000 rapes reported in the United States. [Bureau of Census Table #283] Another study from the US Justice Department, surveyed 49,000 households annually between the years 1973-1987. In 1973, it reported 95,934 completed rapes. In 1987, the figure was 82,505. The study stated that only 53% were reported to police. Factoring this in, the totals were 181,000 rapes in 1973 and 155,000 in 1987. In August 1995, the US Justice Department, using a different study with different questions, returned a result of 170,000 completed rapes plus 140,000 attempted rapes (210,000). There are approximately 100,000,000 females old enough to be at risk for rape in the U.S. If we calculate on the basis of 100,000 rapes, that means that one woman in 1,000 is raped each year. If we calculate on the basis of 200,000 rapes, that means that one woman in 500 is raped each year. So, how many rape pregnancies are there? The answer is that, according to statistical reporting, there are no more than one or two pregnancies resultant from every 1000 forced rapes. Does that make sense? Using the figure of 200,000 women who were forcibly raped, one-third were either too old or too young to get pregnant. That leaves 133,000 at risk for pregnancy. A woman is capable of being fertilized only 3-6 days of a 30-day month. Multiply our figure of 133,000 by by 0.3. Three days of 30 reduces to 1 of 10. Divide 133,000 by 10, and we have 13,300 women remaining. If we use 5 days of 30, then we have 1 of 6. Divide 133,000 by 6 and there are 22,166 women remaining. One-fourth of all women in the U.S. of childbearing age have been sterilized, so the remaining three-fourths comes to 10,000 (or 15,000). Only half of assailants penetrate her body and/or deposit sperm in her vagina1, so cut the remaining figures in half. This leaves 5,000 (or 7,500). Fifteen percent of men are sterile, which drops that figure to 4,250 (or 6,375). Another 15% of women are on the pill or already pregnant. That reduces the number to 3,070 (or 4,600). Now factor in the fact that it takes 5-10 months for the average couple to achieve a pregnancy. Use the smaller figure of 5 months to be conservative and divide the above figures by 5. The number now drops to 600 (or 920). In an average population, the miscarriage rate is about 15%. In this case, we have incredible emotional trauma. Her body is upset. Even if she conceives, the miscarriage rate will be higher than in a more normal pregnancy. If 20% of raped women miscarry, the figure drops to 450 (or 740). Finally, factor in what is certainly one of the most important reasons why a rape victim rarely gets pregnant, and that's psychic trauma. Every woman is aware that stress and emotional factors can alter her menstrual cycle. To get and stay pregnant a woman's body must produce a very sophisticated mix of hormones. Hormone production is controlled by a part of the brain that is easily influenced by emotions. There's no greater emotional trauma that can be experienced by a woman than an assault rape. This can radically upset her possibility of ovulation, fertilization, and implantation. What further percentage reduction in pregnancy will this cause? No one knows. but this factor may well cut this last figure by at least 50%, which would make the final figure 225 (or 370) women pregnant each year from forced rape. These numbers closely match the 200 that have been documented in clinical studies. So, assault rape pregnancy is extremely rare. If we use the figure of 200, it is 4 per state per year. Even if we use a figure of 500, we're talking about 10 rape pregnancies per state, per year. In the U.S. in one year, there are more than 6 million pregnancies. Roughly 3 million eventuate in live birth, 1.5 million are aborted and 500,000 miscarry. While each assault rape pregnancy is a tragedy for the mother (not for the baby, though), such pregnancies amount to a small fraction of the total annual U.S. pregnancies. Further, less than half of assault rape pregnancies are aborted, even though that course of action tends to be vigorously pushed by those around the woman.2, 3 1 New England Journal of Medicine, A.N. Groth, Sexual Dysfunction During Rape, 6Oct1977, p.764-766. 2.Mahkorn & Dolan, "Sexual Assault & Pregnancy", New Perspectives on Human Abortion, University Publisher of America, 1981, pp. 182-199. 3 Mahkorn, "Pregnancy & Sexual Assault," Psychological Aspects of Abortion, University Publishers of America, 1979, pp., 53-72. [J.C. Willke, M.D., Life Issues Connector, 4/1999]

[Kickass Conservative]

>”This is as bad as ‘rich’ Romney claiming BainCapital made its money just like Obama made money saving the auto industry”<

Uh, not even close. Can you say “Legitimate Rape” Ten Million Times in the next seven days? The Media will.

[PhxTM06]

“Expect him to produce a few medical doctors that will support Akin’s findings that the female reproductive system shuts down during what the body determines is a legitimate rape.”

*Facepalm* If you really believe that the female organs shut down during a rape, you either have never taken basic biology or slept through the entire course. His position is scientifically baseless. Rape has no impact on whether or not a woman becomes pregnant, if the rapist doesn’t use a condom and ejaculates inside her, the odds of her becoming pregnant are the same as any other time.

This guy won’t bring out any doctors because there are none who will support his position, at least not credentialed doctors, maybe he can find some quack who got his medical degree from The Greater Online University of Guam or something.

My degree is in biology, and I’m a proud conservative and take it personally when people talk about the Republicans being anti-science but this guy with his comments basically proves every stereotype that is out there.

[Just mythoughts]

Akin will still win this race and the only people that are really upset are Pro Abortion women and they were not going to vote for Akin anyway. Expect him to produce a few medical doctors that will support Akin’s findings that the female reproductive system shuts down during what the body determines is a legitimate rape. This whole thing will blow over by Tuesday and Akin will win by a large margin.

I am repulsed by the phrase 'legitimate rape', and I am against abortion. But, I will still vote for him come November, even though I know allllll local media and national media are going to use only these two words to make Akin sound like some medieval brute... There has never been anything legitimate about 'rape'.... Moreover, I have heard some so called Christians refer to children born out of wedlock as bastards..

Pro-Life is NOT just about saving the unborn. Now what was the penalty for 'rape' when Moses handed down the law?

[Uncle Chip]

She's great on capitalism, energy independence, reducing taxes, rolling back regulations, health care, same-sex marriage, defense, abortion and a host of other issues.

So is Todd Akin with a demonstrable record.

So then explain why Palin was supporting Sara Steelman who was opposed to tort reform in Missouri???

[RIghtwardHo]

I prosecuted 100s of rapes. It is NOT really rare. Whoever is telling you that is also trying to sell you a bridge.

[kalee]

Sorry for the icky formatting. I tried. At least I got the bold correct. My source was Physicians for Life http://www.physiciansforlife.org/content/view/492/26/

[rwfromkansas]

You mean the state with the biggest conservative victory in the primary a few days ago with a successful conservative governor for the first time in ages.....yeah.

[Chunga]

So then explain why Palin was supporting Sara Steelman who was opposed to tort reform in Missouri???

She had a hunch that Steelman wouldn't make moronic comments handing the election to the Democrat.