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Posted on 08/22/2012 3:20:19 PM PDT by shhrubbery!
First, I'm a woman. (Seems to be an important qualification if one is to be allowed to have an opinion on "womens' bodies.")
I'm used to being attacked by the harridans of the Left, who claim that if you're a pro-life, then you're NOT A WOMAN.
But I'm not used to hearing conservatives knee-jerk to the idea that something is "idiotic" just because it's politically incorrect ... according to those same rabid harridans of the Left.
I think, like Akin did, that a woman's endocrine system CAN sometimes "shut down" the process of conception, or implantation, as a result of traumatic stress suffered by the woman.
It so happens there are respected physicians who believe this is possible too: Dr. John C. WIlkie, MD, OB/GYN. And there is some research that tends to back this up (see references at bottom of this page.
We may never have a 100% dispositive study that proves that pregnancy as a result of rape is rare. Real numbers are hard to come by. And sadly, any researcher who attempts an objective study is going to be excoriated like Mark Regnerus (who studied homosexual parenting) or Jay Belsky (who studied the effects of putting children in day care).
But many women know, intuitively, that what Akin said is not "imbecilic." Many women have experience with their endocrine systems going awry, due to stress. I myself have carried four pregnancies to term, but lost one, probably due to stress that caused an endocrine malfunction.
** "Ain't I a woman" is a quote from Sojourner Truth, a strong Christian black woman. She wasn't going to stand for her opinion being shut down because she was (a) a woman and (b) voicing ideas that weren't popular in some circles. And neither am I.
Nana, thanks for your defense, but I think he was being ironic.
Thanks IronJack for your comments, esp allusion to Clarence Thomas, who is still a hero in my conservative pantheon (although my statues of Ann Coulter, Sarah Palin, and Michelle Malkin have been tossed out).
If Akin cared about the conservative movement and the welfare of this country he would step down. Now he’s shown he’s just another scumbag politician thinking of his own self. He has a small window to do the right this thing or history will judge him harshly.
Loose lips; sink ships...
Keep selling yourself that fantasy. Maybe you haven’t heard that his GOP money has dried up with no future resources coming.
He’s a sure loser.
He needs to spend an eternity in Hell with his demorat friends
If I remember correctly the question was “Do you think abortion should be legal in cases of rape?” I wouldn’t call that a gotcha question at all. It was quite straight forward and Akin was free to choose his own words. Ultimately, he tripped up on his own on a fairly simple question.
He'll be a distraction until he drops out and he will drop out.
Me too. I did not find Akin's words "offensive." Not in the slightest.
Otoh I am highly offended by Mitt Romney's, Scott Brown's, Michelle Malkin's, Ann Coulter's, and Sean Hannity's words about this controversy.
I also think the theory could have some merit because it has a sound, biological, evolutionary basis. Looking back to primitive times, it would be a big disadvantage to survival if a woman was raped and had to raise a child on her own without support from a steady mate. Natural selection would therefore favor individuals who were less likely to get pregnant from an unwanted attack, and the feeling of stress could be the mechanism to help make a pregnancy less likely. Nevertheless, the competing force of reproduction would be fighting within the species to make pregnancy possible in that case anyway. It’s still just a theory of course, but it is reasonable and logical enough to be considered and studied further.
You've already lost the argument as you chose to stand on the slippery slope - made all the more slick with the detritus of human carnage. Once you've rationalized killing humans of any age due to the inconvenience of having them around, you've justified murder and genocide. Innocent life at NO age is sacrosanct as long as people hold the ignorant view that - well SOME life innocent life is disposable. A nation that rejects the sanctity of life has abandoned any pretext or even pretensions to legitimacy. There is no moral distinction between the U.S and North Korea once the people glom on to killing unborn babies. It no longer becomes a question of right vs wrong, but of who's sh*t stinks worse.
http://www.glennbeck.com/2012/02/28/ethicists-justify-after-birth-abortion/
It really is a black and white issue. Like pregnancy, being a murderer is all or nothing. But unlike pregnancy, the victims of abortion can never recover from being killed.
Uh, no. Solyndra did not have an engineering problem. The Solyndra problem was the government made a "loan" to a company with no assets completely dependent on government subsidies and tax breaks, and no real prospects for paying the money back. Everyone, except apparently Democrats, can understand that problem.
Nonsense.
Akin cannot win, he can only ensure the loss of other conservatives (which just might be his and your true intent. I can't say for sure, but I am a bit suspicious) Could Mister Akin be Obama's stealth (and early) October Surprise?
As for Akin not being wrong?
I believe that there are countless examples of pregnancies following brutal and vicious rapes; and further, I am not aware of any valid studies that offer even suggestive evidence of Mister Akin's foolish and ignorant assertion.
.
It’s interesting how many threads on this have been on FR. I haven’t counted them.
I would like to re-post ell that you wrote as it was right on. Many women believe as you do, I think, but would not post because of the firestorm of criticism they know they will receive. Kudos to you for your post. Don't weaken.
Most people understand the rules of the political game.
If you say something stupid, then your opponent WILL use it to political advantage.
When a remark is excessively stupid, particularly in regard to a notoriously sensitive subject, the stakes and the penalties are even higher.
Unfortunately for Akin, he made an enormous blunder. Whether it was a simple misstatement or even if he really believed what he said was accurate, the damage was done, and it's highly likely that he has destroyed his own candidacy.
By refusing to admit to this reality, he may well have cost us a critical Senate seat, condemned us to live under Obamacare as the permanent law of the land, and our country will be pushed over the economic cliff.
When your only reply to someone with whom you disagree is disrespect and a picture of a cat, it simply means your argument has no depth or substance. But we knew that.
You know, I’ve seen that number, but I don’t know how they actually got it. I’m suspicious of the numbers (maybe it’s higher, maybe it’s lower) because women seem either afraid to come forward (if you believe one side) or perhaps lie about the circumstances of their pregnancy after the fact. However, I’m not denying that women get pregnant as a result of rape. I’m only saying I doubt we have good stats on it.
And forcible rape as opposed to statutory rape. You know, where say the boy is 19 and the girl is 15, consensual but illegal. BTW are those pregnancies thrown into that number of 32,000 or are all of those forcible rapes?
The fact that he has in all liklihood lost this Senate seat for us seems to be lost on some. I am glad you have recognized it.
I hear you, but help me out. Is it murder to use the morning after pill? Is it murder to use female birth control pills which prevent implantation? Is it murder at the moment after the sperm embeds in the ovum, or is there a decent interval? When does the slippery slope get steep?
I think it's murder at a somewhat later time.
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