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GOP Senate Nominee: Victims of ‘Legitimate Rape’ Rarely Get Pregnant

Aug. 19, 2012 4:15pm Madeleine Morgenstern

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin (Mo.), seen here celebrating his win in the Senate primary race Aug. 7, 2012, said in an interview he doesn't support abortion even in cases of rape because victims of "legitimate rape" rarely get pregnant. (AP)

Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), the Republican nominee for Senate in Missouri, said he doesn’t support abortion even in cases of rape because victims of “legitimate rape” rarely get pregnant.

“First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape is] really rare,” Akin, who’s running to unseat Sen. Claire McCaskill, told KTVI-TV in an interview posted Sunday. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

He continued, “But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something — you know, I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.”

A 1996 study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology said approximately 32,000 pregnancies result from rape each year in the United States and that about 5 percent of rape victims are impregnated.

McCaskill tweeted Sunday afternoon that she was outraged by Akin’s comment, posting: “As a woman & former prosecutor who handled 100s of rape cases,I’m stunned by Rep Akin’s comments about victims this AM.”

As a woman & former prosecutor who handled 100s of rape cases,I’m stunned by Rep Akin’s comments about victims this AM bit.ly/NahiHz

— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) August 19, 2012

Earlier in the interview, Akin described his position as one to always “optimize life.”

“Sometimes people talk about life of the mother as a situation,” he said. “One of the foundational things America’s built on is the respect for life, and so I would say you optimize life. So for instance, a woman has a tubal preganncy or something. Well technically by my understanding life begins at conception so you’ve technically had conception, but the child doesn’t have a chance and will soon kill the mother. OK so I would say in those kinds of situations you try to optimize life.”

First elected to the U.S. House in 2000, Akin won the Republican nomination for Senate in a three-way race earlier this month.

Watch the full interview below:

(h/t Talking Points Memo)

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Comments (277)

voting-for-romney
Posted on August 21, 2012 at 3:56pm
If the man had said, “doctors believe, based on their studies, xyz” the man would have been in a better position, and I think he will have learned a valuable lesson and got plenty of free press in the process? Sounds like a win, win to me? Lack of another name in the race tells us this is the best man for the race?

If we gave Mr. Ted Cruz the benefit of the doubt, despite well meaning, but poorly made television commercials made by Mr. Dewhurst, why not this guy?

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mzk1
Posted on August 21, 2012 at 4:26am
All the people who object to differentiating between different types of rape must not have read a single State law, since they ALL make this distinction.

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mzk1
Posted on August 21, 2012 at 4:21am
The Blaze misquoted the study, just as WaPo did – and I told them about it. It’s not 5% of overall victims, it’s 5% of victims of childbearing age. And has anyone vetted this study or looked for others?

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StronzateDiDestra
Posted on August 21, 2012 at 3:38am
Akin On ‘Legitimate Rape’ Comment: ‘I Misspoke’

Putting out a “brilliant” statement on the issue. There was nothing close to an apology in there. Not once did he say “I apologize for the comment I made”.

Why is almost half of his “apology” statement used to launch an attack on the President of the United States, for the economy? I find this sentiment opportunistic, cold-hearted, and completely devoid of sincerity.

That was NOT an apology. It was an excuse.

Vote3 for Todd Akin, yet another waste of human skin

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- mzk1
  Posted on August 21, 2012 at 4:24am
  He made a factual error, but why shoudl he apologize? The main issue is that the victim (the baby) should not be punished. And there are different degrees of rape, as any reading of any State law will tell you.
  
  And his other point was correct – rape is an unusual crime in that it has both a high rate of underreporting (women too embarrassed to report it) and overreporting (false charges). I am certain that if abortion is outlawed except for rape/incest, that innocent men will go to jail as a result. We know this because it already happens.
  
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- StronzateDiDestra
  Posted on August 21, 2012 at 12:18pm
  Only if by “misspoke” you mean “mistakenly admitted what he actually believe”,
  
  Two reasons for not buying into the idea that this was a slip of the tongue:
  
  1. The provision on “forcible rape” (aka “Legitimate Rape”) in the original “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.”, that both Rep Todd W. Akin and VPWannabe Rep Paul Ryan, had cosponsored before it was introduced.
  
  2. His lame attempt to give a “medical” explanation on how the female body magically would alter its hormonal balance if it was legitimately raped, as opposed to if it was dishonestly raped.
  
  NCBI research finds that approximately 32,000 pregnancies result from rape each year, and that the national rape-related pregnancy rate is 5.0% per rape among victims of reproductive age (aged 12 to 45).
  
  Do you think that the rate of wrongfull Incarcerations will be higher in this kind of crime than in any other? WHY
  
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StronzateDiDestra
Posted on August 21, 2012 at 3:14am
Todd Akin and the GOP VP PAUL RYAN are on the same page when it comes to the issue of Legitimate Rape……

They both hold the position that if you were raped and became pregnant, you must have actually wanted it—it wasn’t really rape.

Only when facing an onslaught of outside pressure, did the VP CANDIDATE PAUL RYAN that cosponsored the bill and the rest of the dimwitted Republicans in the House remove their “forcible rape” (aka “Legitimate Rape”) provision from their “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.”

Surely, when using this clear cut winner issue to make their case for Obama’s War on Women, R&R must be catching up to the POTUS when it comes to the women’s votes.

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blackyb
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 10:28pm
It takes a pure coward to harm a little baby, especially in the womb. That is just as bad as if the baby is born. How could anyone do that?

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