Posted on 08/28/2012 9:24:06 AM PDT by Perseverando
Exclusive: Jane M. Orient, M.D., says political demagoguery is replacing science
“From what I understand from doctors, that’s (conception as a result of rape) really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. 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 of the rapist, and not attacking the child.” – Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo.
All decent people, including U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin, agree that forcible rape is a heinous crime. Almost all would agree that illegitimate (false) accusations of rape occur – there’s the case of the Duke lacrosse players, for example.
All reasonable people, including Todd Akin, agree that pregnancy can result from forcible rape – but there is scientific disagreement on how likely it is.
A 1988 textbook, the second edition of “Human Sex and Sexuality” by Edwin B. Steen and James H. Price, estimates a 2 percent pregnancy rate. A 2012 textbook, “Comprehensive Gynecology,” 6th edition, gives an estimate of between 2 percent and 5 percent and states that “in the experience of most sexual assault centers, the chance of pregnancy occurring is quite low.” Estimates depend on flawed methods, with inevitable biases. An experiment to give an accurate figure is, of course, impossible. And does the estimate really matter to the woman who has been raped? Either she gets pregnant, or she doesn’t.
Is the risk of pregnancy lower with forcible rape, and if so, why? Off the cuff, Todd Akin gave a layman’s restatement of the point made by some pro-life physicians that the female body has some defense mechanisms against pregnancy in cases of rape.
The process of fertilization, implantation and maintenance of pregnancy is an intricate...
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
Re: I have said this before. Thanks to the media, Akin will go down in history as the guy who tried to argue that there is such a thing as legitimate rape. Whether you think that is true or not, it pales in comparison to the reality that by refusing to withdraw and give up the nomination to someone like Sarah Steelman, he may have just facilitated the rape of the Republic.
Yep, if we just had the media on our side. Maybe soon, they’ll see the light and take our side. </sarc>
Yeah, we’ve seen that before...just putting it out there for consideration...that’s what Akin did, just put it out there for consideration. Brought it up when nobody was talking about it and all he had to say was, I don’t believe in killing the innocent baby if a pregnancy occurs.
Now people are talking about that “theory” that the female body “shuts down” during rape, thereby preventing pregnancy, and they are talking about the term “legitimate rape” uttered by the “genius” Akin.
You have a choice. Contribute to helping that debate over that theory stay at center court, or for your part, dropping it.
You chose.
Your partners in keeping it going are the radical Left...pretty much.
I don’t know who this author is but she’s one of the few non radical Left helping to keep it center court, and I have no use for what she’s doing, either.
Exactly what I’ve been saying all along. The pro-life position during that situation have NOTHING to do with the chances of pregnancy in that situation. We don’t believe the life of the infant who is innocent should be harmed regardless.
So why bring up this irrelevant argument?`
I've listened to NPR for years. Yes, they've always been biased. They are left-wing, they like Democrats, they don't like Republicans. This is obvious to anyone who listens. It's a big YAWN.
But perhaps you've experienced what I have experienced over the past year or two -- NPR has gone exponentially into the tank for Obama. Like never before. Blatantly, blatantly anti Republican. Not even a shred of an effort to pretend to be curious about the other side or to provide equal coverage.
It's really quite staggering. And I say that as a long-time listener who has been screaming at them for many years. Now I just sit there with my mouth hanging open.
Unbelievable.
The real point of this ‘incident’ with Akin is that the public must be kept believing that all rape results in pregnancy.
Therefore, tax-payer funded abortions must be continued. (Which is the goal of the organized crime figures who own the (un)Planned (non)Parenthood clinics)
It’s only that ‘foot in the door’ that keeps the money flowing.
If we compare the abortions (based on ‘legitimate’ rape cases) to those where the female just didn’t ‘want’ the baby, what do you think we would find ?
THAT is why Akin was ‘Quayled’, and that is why the MSM won’t print the facts.
It’s not really about the politicians, it’s about THE MONEY.
Re: Not far off base? Is that a backhanded compliment? So he’s still off base, just not *that far*?
Wrong but not far, is that the new “fake but accurate”? That’s a great slogan for a senate campaign, vote for the not far off base guy.
I don’t know a single person who believes “all rape results in pregnancy”.
Exactly right. Do we want the focus to be on the fact that a baby’s life is being terminated, or on some junk science about how a woman’s body shuts down and can’t get pregnant from a “real” rape. That would make it so easy for us on the Pro-Life side. We don’t need an exception for abortion for rape because you can’t get pregnant from a rape. Problem solved!
We are in the fight of our lives in this election, with Obama imposing Socialism and spending us into bankruptcy and some people want to fight him on whether a woman really gets pregnant from a rape.
—Dear goodness... really? Please read post 5.—
I did.
go to NPR.com and listen to the story I was listening to.
The more that people actually look at the words that Akin spoke, the less offensive they appear. For example how many people since his words were spoken overlooked the above words: "to try". Very few of the histrionic hyperbolizers on this issue unfortunately.
Re: I don’t know who this author is but she’s one of the few non radical Left helping to keep it center court, and I have no use for what she’s doing, either.
Jane Orient, M.D., is the executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. - http://www.aapsonline.org/index.php/
So now you know. Why don’t you contact her and let her know how you really “feel.”
Exactly. It is an eminently defensible position. All he needed to say was, "a human life is a human life - period".
Akin will lose not because of his position, but because of his own stupidity and arrogance.
Where do you find that in Akin's words above. Read them again.
Because when you are fighting against LEGAL and TAXPAYER FUNDED abortions for ANY EXCUSE, and your opponent claims it's ALL ABOUT THE MASSIVE PREGNANCIES FROM RAPE CASES (and doesn't like you limiting it to 'legitimate rape cases'), it is important to find out the truth.
But nobody wants that. Especially the ones who lie about rape, and those who profit from it.
Odd that it seems the same people who own PP clinics also own Porn Websites, Porn movie productions, Strip Clubs and Adult Bookstores. I wonder why?
This is point many don't consider.
Does that include the misbehavior of a man and a woman who have consensual and unprotected sex, and then find the pregnancy inconvenient ?
Good post.
What would make a conservative poster on this site call for silence on this, when there’s no way our discussing it will have any effect on the mainstream narrative?
And the point trying to be made is what? akin made his point and he is out of politics for good after he loses bigtime.
So.... how many 'legitimate' cases of rape result in pregnancy ?
“Wow...sure wish there was an edit button on here. FR needs to get with the times.”
The lack of an edit button is not a deficiency in the interface, it is missing on purpose. That way, you are held accountable for what you post here, and can not make something that you posted disappear after you start taking some flak for saying it.
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