I happened to be watching the Akin interview that Sunday morning and was not taken aback by his “notorious comments”. I understood Akin’s words to imply forced rape, as opposed to statutory rape.
And as a woman, I understand the complex female reproductive system and am aware that impending ovulation may possibly be delayed or halted during an occurrence of stress or trauma. This could certainly include the horror of rape. For those who question the rational of Akin’s tenet, there are medical sources to substantiate his comments…….
Important Facts to Know About Ovulation:
An egg (ovum) lives 12-24 hours after leaving the ovary.
Normally only one egg is released each time of ovulation.
Ovulation can be affected by stress, illness or disruption of normal routines.
http://netwellness.org/healthtopics/pregnancy/pregmenstrualcycle.cfm
Stress can definitely interfere with conception.
That’s because stress can affect the functioning of the hypothalamus — the gland in the brain that regulates your appetite and emotions, as well as the hormones that tell your ovaries to release eggs. If you’re stressed out, you may ovulate later in your cycle or not at all.
It’s important to differentiate between constant and sudden stress. The body often acclimates to constant, everyday stresses, so you’ll probably ovulate fairly consistently each cycle. It’s sudden stress — a death in the family, an accident, divorce — that can throw your cycle off and interfere with ovulation.
Toni Weschler
Fertility Educator
http://www.babycenter.com/404_can-stress-get-in-the-way-of-getting-pregnant_1336350.bc
The Science of Stress and Fertility
Pisarska tells WebMD that the effects of stress may be different for each woman.
“Stress may cause one set of reactions in one woman, and something else in another, so ultimately the reasons behind how or why stress impacts fertility may also be very individual,” says Pisarska.
While doctors may not know the exact links between stress and fertility, a series of studies shows the impact is hard to ignore.
http://www.webmd.com/infertility-and-reproduction/features/infertility-stress
Stress and Fertility
By Michael C. Darder, MD & Susan L. Treiser, MD, PhD
Q. Can emotional stress affect fertility?
A. Severe stress can prevent ovulation, and that, of course, makes it impossible to get pregnant. Significant stress can affect the hormones in the brain that direct egg development; the eggs stop growing and there’s no ovulation.
http://www.conceiveonline.com/articles/stress-and-fertility
Todd Akin’s gaffe was not worthy of destruction of his political career. He did not do anything illegal or immoral or malicious. He did not deliberately disparage women who were impregnated by rape. His words were sadly misconstrued by some people and deliberately distorted by political operatives in efforts to affect the November election.
I'm glad Akin didn't cower under the attacks of King Turd Blossom and the GOP-e and held his ground.
Nothing wrong with the point he was trying to get across.
The dems and the overlords of the Republican party jumped all over him, both for the same reason.
He represents Conservatism.
The dems, the GOP and their main spewer of hate for Tea Party values--—Karl Rove---love to skewer conservatives and attempt to chase them out of politics.
Good for Todd Akin!