Women's bodies can naturally prevent pregnancy from rape

I'm more bemused by this than outraged, but I expect someone will plant the wank tree anyway, so it might as well be me:

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A row has erupted in the US after a congressman said women's bodies were naturally able to prevent pregnancy in the case of "legitimate rape".

Todd Akin, who is also running as Republican candidate for the Senate, made the comments in a TV interview to explain his strict views on abortion.

He later said he had "misspoken" but his Democratic rival said the comments were "beyond comprehension".

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said he disagreed with the view.

During the interview for KTVI-TV, Mr Akin was asked about his no-exceptions view on abortion, a highly charged issue in the US, and on whether he would like abortion to be banned even if the pregnancy was the result of rape.

He replied: "It seems to me, from what I understand from doctors, that is 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."

'Flat-out astonishing'

The interview has sparked a furious reaction in the US, with critics attacking both Mr Akin's scientific view and his reference to "legitimate rape".
Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill said it was "beyond comprehension that someone can be so ignorant about the emotional and physical trauma brought on by rape".

"The ideas that Todd Akin has expressed about the serious crime of rape and the impact on its victims are offensive."

Ms McCaskill, who is trailing Mr Akin in opinion polls for the Missouri seat, said on Twitter that as a former prosecutor she had personally handled hundreds of rape cases.

On blogs and Twitter, users have also poured scorn on his biological view, and expressed concern that he is a member of the House Committee on Science.

Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, told AP radio that the comments were "flat-out astonishing" and that such language was "intended to shame women".

A spokesman for Mr Romney said that both the candidate and his running mate, Paul Ryan, disagreed with Mr Akin, and stressed that "a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape".

Mr Akin later issued a statement saying he had "misspoken" in his "off the cuff" remarks, though did not specify on which points.

He said the interview "does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year".

Mr Akin also reconfirmed that he "believes deeply in the protection of all life and I do not believe that harming another innocent victim is the right course of action".

The six-term congressman for Missouri is a long-time vocal opponent of relaxing abortion laws.

In 2011, he co-sponsored a controversial bill that would have limited the government help available to women seeking abortions in the case of rape to cases of "forcible rape".

After a public outcry, the House Republican party was made to change this language.

Interview can be found here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


So I don't understand here. Did someone tell him there's some sort of hormonal response that might make it more difficult to conceive if the woman is distressed, or something like that, and he took it a bit too simplistically? If so, is that based on even the tiniest bit of science (I would think not, personally, but I'm not a biologist)? Or did he just make it up on the spot to justify his ass-backward views and expected the electorate to be as stupid as him?

And even if he didn't, he still wants abortion outlawed in cases of rape when it fails. Also implications from the term 'legitimate rape'. Have fun with that everyone.

Finally, his defence of how he had "mis-spoken". Is that even a word? And since when does a politician worth his salt make 'off the cuff' remarks in an interview instead of preparing?

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So I don't understand here. Did someone tell him there's some sort of hormonal response that might make it more difficult to conceive if the woman is distressed, or something like that, and he took it a bit too simplistically? If so, is that based on even the tiniest bit of science (I would think not, personally, but I'm not a biologist)? Or did he just make it up on the spot and expected the electorate to be as stupid as him?

Meh, I learned this in my high school health class. Among a lot of other bullshit. And no, they never described the science behind it either.

Also, birth control pills would make you barren...

Mr.Doobie wrote:

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So I don't understand here. Did someone tell him there's some sort of hormonal response that might make it more difficult to conceive if the woman is distressed, or something like that, and he took it a bit too simplistically? If so, is that based on even the tiniest bit of science (I would think not, personally, but I'm not a biologist)? Or did he just make it up on the spot and expected the electorate to be as stupid as him?

Meh, I learned this in my high school health class. Among a lot of other bullshit. And no, they never described the science behind it either.

Also, birth control pills would make you barren...

You know, I went to a Catholic school that effectively told us all that abortion was evil, but even they didn't come out with this. Although it was an all-boys school. I really must ask my sister did the all girls' school try to tell her that.

EDIT: And on second reading I'm more pissed off about this. He's talking out his arse to justify forcing women to have children. And this is someone who decides what should be legal and shouldn't be (yes, I know a Bicameral legislature is more complicated than that, but you know what I mean)? Fuck him. Seriously.

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(yes, I know a Bicameral legislature is more complicated than that, but you know what I mean)

Oh no, it is still horrifying that anyone who so basically fails biology can still get people to think they're fit to run the country.

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You know, I went to a Catholic school that effectively told us all that abortion was evil, but even they didn't come out with this. Although it was an all-boys school. I really must ask my sister did the all girls' school try to tell her that.

Well.... y'know that Truth for Youth comic on birth control? My high school science class was pretty much like that....

GAWD you politically correct commie-feminist-liberal-atheists do like to blow every little thing a good God-fearing man says totally out of proportion, don't you?

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Lighten up!


Besides - he's totally right, anyway:

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If you've got further questions then 40 Days For Life has a handy txt. document to counter every single one of your whiny, godless, baby-murdering questions: link

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“What about a woman who is pregnant due to rape or incest?”

a. Pregnancy due to rape is extremely rare, and with proper treatment can be prevented.

b. Rape is never the fault of the child; the guilty party, not an innocent party, should be punished.

c. The violence of abortion parallels the violence of rate.

d. Abortion does not bring healing to a rape victim.

There. Rape and pregnancy can be prevented (so long as you arn't taking the morning after pill, because as Aikin also says in his great God-Given wisdom: that's a form of abortion too) You shouldn't punish the child for having a mother who is carrying the child of her own brother, the mother should be glad they're carrying a child at all (see txt. document for several examples of why the woman should be glad of this), aborting a foetus is exactly as bad as being raped how dare you think otherwise you damn foetus-fucker, and anyway abortion doesn't make the woman feel any better so you just shouldn't bother.

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Mr Akin later issued a statement saying he had "misspoken" in his "off the cuff" remarks

Woman-hating jackass to English translation: "I stuck my foot in my mouth, then swallowed it."

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"If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.

Of course it does.

A right cross to the nose is perfectly natural.

Shooting him? Not quite as natural, but I'll allow it.

The GOP would like to abort his campaign, but I hope he insists on carrying it to term.

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I do not believe that harming another innocent victim is the right course of action

The woman's already been harmed, so forcing her to continue a pregancy and give birth to her rapist's child isn't going to make things any worse.

Hot Cancer wrote:

You know, I went to a Catholic school that effectively told us all that abortion was evil, but even they didn't come out with this. Although it was an all-boys school. I really must ask my sister did the all girls' school try to tell her that.

I went to a Catholic all girls' school, and they were very strong on the "abortion is wrong" (not evil exactly but wrong) thing. The peculiar thing is that they never ever talked to us about rape. They just read a "what if?" paragraph about two teenagers (usually named Brendan and Siobhan) who go a cider party where Brendan "[drinks] a lot of alcohol and put pressure on Siobhan to have sexual relations. What should Siobhan do?"

Never once did any of us (or the teacher) cop that Brendan was a fucking douchebag and Siobhan should dump his coercive ass immediately.

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d. Abortion does not bring healing to a rape victim.

a) how does the person who wrote that know?

b) maybe it's not about healing

maybe it's about preventing further trauma caused by forcing someone to bear her rapist's child

maybe women are individuals and having an abortion affects different women in different ways

maybe sometimes life is shitty and flushing a blastocyst down the toilet is the least shitty option

Cyberwulf wrote:

maybe women are individuals and having an abortion affects different women in different ways

Silly Cyberwulf, don't you know that women are a hivemind collective lacking independent will, opinions, and interests?

Cyberwulf wrote:

Hot Cancer wrote:

You know, I went to a Catholic school that effectively told us all that abortion was evil, but even they didn't come out with this. Although it was an all-boys school. I really must ask my sister did the all girls' school try to tell her that.

I went to a Catholic all girls' school, and they were very strong on the "abortion is wrong" (not evil exactly but wrong) thing. The peculiar thing is that they never ever talked to us about rape. They just read a "what if?" paragraph about two teenagers (usually named Brendan and Siobhan) who go a cider party where Brendan "[drinks] a lot of alcohol and put pressure on Siobhan to have sexual relations. What should Siobhan do?"

Never once did any of us (or the teacher) cop that Brendan was a fucking douchebag and Siobhan should dump his coercive ass immediately.

Well they didn't say "Now let's talk about abortion, which is evil.", obviously, but they did describe it as being along the lines of a 'knife' that comes in and 'cuts the (I can't remember whether they said baby or fetus) up into little bits'. The connotation was definitely intended as negative.

I also like the way Brendan has to drink alcohol to pressure Siobhan for sex. Cos that can never happen when people are sober.

Funny thing, I just heard about this from a different source...

TheIan wrote:

Funny thing, I just hard about this from a different source...

Aborting fetuses fertilized by rape makes Ian hard.

^^^ sums up my thoughts pretty well

What barrel does the GOP scrape these people out of?

Well the Republican Party have said they won't fund his campaign anymore and individual Republicans, including Mitt Romney are distancing themselves from him sharpish. It's almost like they're saying "Hey, he's crazy, dumb and backwards, but the rest of us aren't. Really"

Also, from BBC News:

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But in a radio interview with former Republican White House hopeful Mike Huckabee on Monday, Mr Akin said he would not pull out of the race.

He also said that rape was "never legitimate", calling it "an evil act... committed by violent predators".

So he's climbing down from a completely and utterly different meaning of 'legitimate' as it applies to rape than what he used in the interview? Um... what? Is this man actually illiterate?

I don't see what the problem is with the word "legitimate." It may have been slighlty vague, but he clearly means an ACTUAL rape as opposed to a Duke University rape.

To focus on THIS misses everything that was legitimately wrong with what he said.

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On blogs and Twitter, users have also poured scorn on his biological view, and expressed concern that he is a member of the House Committee on Science.

Jesus Fucking Christ. No wonder science gets no respect in the USA.

Lady Anne wrote:

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On blogs and Twitter, users have also poured scorn on his biological view, and expressed concern that he is a member of the House Committee on Science.

Jesus Fucking Christ. No wonder science gets no respect in the USA.

Oh yeah.

I mean, it's not like we've ever cured polio, created the internet, pioneered computers, designed some truly and unnecessarily fancy cell phones, or went to the moon or goddamn Mars or anything. We're just cavemen hitting objects with other objects.

The Onion translates Todd Akin's "apology": I Misspoke—What I Meant To Say Is 'I Am Dumb As Dog Shit And I Am A Terrible Human Being'

There actually is some science to back up the "women's bodies can naturally prevent pregnancy" thing, but the "with rape" part is wrong.

Long term stress (over weeks/months) will make a woman infertile for a short time - part of the reaction to stress is making sure babies don't come during an inopportune time. But rape and other short traumatic events don't fall into this category, unless there are other contributing factors making it a long term trauma, like a serious injury.

Another time that women become infertile is when they are starving. I noticed this when I got depressed actually. When I get depressed, food tastes bad so I don't eat. Then the body shuts down my reproductive organs for a few months because it thinks I'm starving to death. Don't want to get pregnant when starving to death!

Women who go through a short trauma (like rape or a car accident) and are already pregnant and in poor health - their bodies will abort the fetus so that the mother won't die.

Sometimes being raped, or just having sex, can cause infections or Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, which also causes infertility.

But rape itself causing the body to shut down its reproductive organs? Very rare. An entire generation of rape babies in Rwanda and in Bosnia disproves that pretty thoroughly.

So basically, they took an actual phenomenon, and tried to spread it's affect just a little so they could have some science to back their fucked up religious ideology and take women's control over their own bodies away from them. And so that they could feel less bad about victim blaming. 'Cuz, if a woman was raped and she got pregnant, it obviously wasn't traumatizing enough and not really rape and the slut should have to bear that child and live with it for the rest of her days as punishment for being so slutty.

Let's see, an appropriate smily:

Mikey Go WOOGA wrote:

I don't see what the problem is with the word "legitimate." It may have been slighlty vague, but he clearly means an ACTUAL rape as opposed to a Duke University rape.

To focus on THIS misses everything that was legitimately wrong with what he said.

Ignoring the wildly inadequate amount of research that clearly went into the comment, it seems to suggest that if a woman gets pregnant then she wasn't really raped.

And of course Kirk Cameron leaps to Akin's defense.

All those dipshits keep parroting is "He just misspoke! He just chose the wrong words!"

What would "If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down" bit look like if key words were replaced?

"If it’s a real rape, like a RAPE-rape rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

Said dipshits also don't mention that MAGIC RAPE PREGNANCY BLOCKER POWERS ACTIVATE bit. Like it doesnt run completely contrary to science, biology, and common sense.

These are of course the same types that believe the world is 6000 years old, so what else could you expect?

the asylum wrote:

All those dipshits keep parroting is "He just misspoke! He just chose the wrong words!"

What would "If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down" bit look like if key words were replaced?

"If it’s a real rape, like a RAPE-rape rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

Said dipshits also don't mention that MAGIC RAPE PREGNANCY BLOCKER POWERS ACTIVATE bit. Like it doesnt run completely contrary to science, biology, and common sense.

These are of course the same types that believe the world is 6000 years old, so what else could you expect?

All I could figure was he has this belief that women have a magical little switch in their head that they can flick from 'get pregnant' to 'not get pregnant.' While this would be nice if it were true (no more worrying about birth control) it's not.

I_Lam_Edhellen does have a point about long-term stress preventing pregnancy, but in that case, we're talking about extreme conditions like starvation. Getting raped is just as traumatic, but you can still get pregnant.

Of course, this whole thing would be moot if men could get pregnant. If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament, and there'd be free clinics on every corner. But we don't want them uppity women to start thinking they're equal to men, now do we?

Steve King (R, Holier-than-thou) supports Todd akin and doubles down on the stupid.

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King supports the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act." It would ban Federal funding of abortions except in cases of forcible rape. Right now, Medicaid also covers abortions for victims of statutory rape or incest - for example, a 12 year old who gets pregnant.

Congressman King says he's not aware of any young victims like that.

"Well I just haven't heard of that being a circumstance that's been brought to me in any personal way (my emphasis), and I'd be open to discussion about that subject matter," he said.

Republicans: until something bad has been brought to them in a personal way, it's just not a problem.