As I noted earlier today, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin of Missouri made a rather outrageous claim to a local television station in Missouri on Sunday, claiming “legitimate rape” rarely produces pregnancy because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” Akin cited conversations with unnamed doctors for his bizarre claim, which you can watch for yourself below.
So here’s my question for all you conservative “Tea Party” types out there who read Blogging Blue (I know there’s a few of you out there): if you were a resident of Missouri, would you have cast a vote for Todd Akin if he had made his statements about “legitimate rape” prior to the Republican U.S. Senate primary election in Missouri?
I look forward to your responses.
As long as he produces tax cuts for the upper class and steps on the necks of the lower, I think any and all right wingers will willingly vote for this stupid fucking clown. Their whole lineup of characters is a shameful expression of ignorance and greed.
I have heard variations of this claim before and have not had the inclination to research its truthfulness. As such, the claim is not one that would disqualify him for my consideration. May I ask Zach why a claim of this sort, even if it were proven to be untrue, is even very relevant, given all the proven problems that need our attention?
Dennis, if you’d like to hear Rep. Akin’s “claim” for yourself, watch the video. He’s on the video making the statement in question.
As for its relevance, I’m simply asking a question out of curiosity.
@Dennis: What claim? They have him on video. This isn’t a Youtube gotcha, he was being interviewed. And, you don’t consider rape a proven problem, nor the attitudes of many conservatives toward rape an issue. Tell that to a female friend sometime and see her reaction.
It is people like you Other Side that make reasonable discussion impossible. What claim you ask? The claim is the main topic of conversation, that rape victims rarely get pregnant. I have heard this claim before. Also, your claim that I have insinuated that rape is not a problem is a pure fabrication on your part. It is of course a problem. Whether a candidate for office thinks a rape victim is unlikely to get pregnant is not a problem in itself. If he thinks rape victims should not get recourse in our courts or something similarly vile, well, that would be a problem. But so far I have heard of no such noxious claims from Mr. Akin. If you could avoid straw man arguments OS we might be able to have a rational discussion.
Whether a candidate for office thinks a rape victim is unlikely to get pregnant is not a problem in itself.
Really? It’s not true. You like candidates who believe things that aren’t true?
Denis,
A couple of thoughts on your remarks:
“Whether a candidate for office thinks a rape victim is unlikely to get pregnant is not a problem in itself.”
Why, yes it is a problem in itself. Demonstrable evidence is available from a great number of sources indicating that rape-related pregnancy is more than highly likely; to cite the phrase from the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, rape-related pregnancy occurs with “significant frequency.” It is a problem if a legislator governs outside of fact and reason. It is a problem if that legislator governs from within the realm of radical ignorance (e.g. belief in female magic-biology). That elected official is no longer legislating. That official is decreeing unsubstantiated belief, and those decrees have real-world consequences. Belief vs. Reason is paramount in evaluating the fitness of those who govern this nation.
“If he thinks rape victims should not get recourse in our courts or something similarly vile, well that would be a problem.” Akin’s belief system does exactly what you suggest you oppose. HR 3 was an attempt to legally redefine rape and placed the burden of proof on the victim. In other words, a woman or child would have to prove in a court of law that the sexual violence she experienced was “forcible” – that the sexual violence perpetrated against her was a “legitimate rape.” Rape victims would not get recourse in the courts if Akin’s belief system were codified into law.
And that’s really what’s at issue here as to Akin’s fitness for governance. One who isn’t capable of a real-world response to our nation’s problems (rape and the myriad issues surrounding it being one of many) is unfit to govern.
I’m glad we worked out the comment spam issue. 😀
The claim you’ve heard about women who’ve been raped not getting pregnant is absolute garbage from a medical standpoint. Are you a doctor? Did you go to medical school, or even nursing school for that matter?
If not, you don’t know what you’re talking about, nor does Todd Akin or any other lawmaker who isn’t a medical doctor.
Et tu Zach. Why so rude? I won”t be participating in these discussions anymore.
If you consider what I wrote rude, then you should grow a thicker skin.
The fact is, the people saying (and writing) these things about women who are raped don’t know the first thing about women’s bodys beyond whatever “facts” might suit their narrow views on the reproductive rights of women.
I’ll also note that I’m amused at how so many “small government” Tea Party conservatives are so quick to support government getting all up in a woman’s vagina….which to me is the ultimate government intrusion. How exactly do you justify that?
I ask this a lot no one has an answer; Who will pay for the new baby boom if pro life gets their way????Will the children be neglected??? Adoption is not the answer, too many kids are in foster care on the tax dime. Please confront pro lifers Demand answers.
Not sure I would consider myself a “Tea Party” type but I agree (At least regarding this issue) with;
Sean Hannity, Charles Krauthammer, Sen Ron Johnson, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sen. John Cornyn, and Kevin Binversie.
I tried to put links in to show the articles and sites with their responses but this site decided it was too “spammy”
Seems to me that’s about all I have been hearing about from my side of the isle is he needs to go.
I agree with that.
So the answer to your question is “No” I would not cast a vote for him.
Akin’s an idiot and as Steve pointed out…a whole lotta Republicans agree.
I’m pro-life, but I DO NOT support the kind of governmental scrutiny and parsing of an issue like rape that Akin apparently supports. I don’t want some bureaucrat scrutinizing a woman’s claim of rape when she tries to get an abortion…it’s victimizing her a second time. That smacks of the kind of big government over-reach that Tea Party types should abhor.
As for the whole feminine-body-has-mysterious-ways-of-ending-unwanted-pregnancies thing…that’s just beyond reason and makes him sound like a complete f**king loon.
I wouldn’t vote for Claire McCaskill. I would probably pull a Senator Obama and abstain from that vote.
@Dennis: You said, “I have heard variations of this claim…,” but you were disinclined to research it. I asked how you could be so obtuse to ignore a statement so obviously ignorant. You questioned the relevance. I said statements regarding rape, especially ignorant ones by individuals running for office, are always relevant. Just like your insistence on calling Mohammed a pedophile while ignoring cultural history (facts, btw) your scurrying to cover your tracks while attacking me point to one conclusion: Take off the blinders.
I have a question for Republicans. Let’s assume they get their way on abortion and Akin’s statment about women’s ability is true. Wouldn’t that make any rape victim that doesn’t get pregnant a criminal? If abortion is illegal under any situation then self-abortion would be a crime. THIS IS NUTS.
The Atlantic posted a short piece about Romney’s 2007 presidential campaign’s connection to an Anti-Choice/Anti-Life physician who expressed a similarly bizarre notion about women’s shaman-organs that repel unwelcome spermatazoa. I’ve got to hand it to Right Wing Extremism – they have an alternative “expert” for every repugnant and reasonless position they adopt. Then again, anti-intellectualism necessitates ethos of some sort.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/08/romney-endorsed-by-praised-dr-john-willke-leading-proponent-of-idea-that-rape-lowers-pregnancy-risk/261358/
Romney claims to reject Akin’s nonsense, yet he doesn’t seem to have rejected the notion of fertilization witchcraft during his 2007 presidential run. And now it seems he and Ryan both are claiming they would accept abortion in circumstances of rape, incest, or risk to the mother’s life. The GOP itself, however, has since put onto its platform a strict position of denying abortion in cases of incest or rape – announced after it denounced Akin. So, now Romney and Ryan might not be following the GOP line. Kind of refreshing to see the GOP leadership moving the bar on itself for a change. Monty Python couldn’t have performed this batty Conservative tribal dance any better…
The American Family Association is now attempting to render Akin’s claim “reasonable” by citing Wilke the Witch Doctor referenced in the Atlantic article. See how this works?
ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang walla walla bing bang
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmjrTcYMqBM
And now Akin is using his expert in biology-magic to defend yet another spin, which is spiraling into uglier and uglier, labyrinthine, more irrational depths:
http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/13052-akin-clarifies-legitimate-rape-comments-women-make-false-claims-about-being-raped
And let us remember – Romney is an admirer of Wilke and Ryan’s legislative record is in complete accordance with Akin’s. As much as the two of them try to distance themselves – they are lying. By November, the two will be on board with Akin and so will the official GOP platform. Romney and Ryan are just as radically irresponsible and unfit to hold public office as Akin is.