Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), GOP Senate nominee, when asked about abortion in the case of rape or incest said "“From what I understand from doctors, that’s 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 maybe that didn’t work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist.”
So is he lying when he says that “the doctors” that told him that? I think so. Does he believe the female body can “shut that whole thing down”? Probably.
Well, the female body (and especially the area “down there”) IS, after all, a Great and Wonderful Mystery Of Nature which decent people would never try to know too much about…
In the female, the generative organ is subject to wild hormonal influences. In the male, the generative organ is discerning and rational, and can be relied upon for solid and responsible decisions.
Let’s dig deeper into the phrase “legitimate rape”. This presupposes the existence of “illegitimate rape”: you may say it was rape, but you really consented and probably enjoyed it. In other words: in Akin’s eyes, if a woman is pregnant and says it’s because she was raped…she’s lying.
Yes, but those are not from legitimate rape. Everyone knows how women work. Sometimes their eyes say “yes” while their mouths are saying “No.” And this business about “marital rape.” Everyone knows that if it’s between a husband and his wife, it’s not rape. There’s also “non-consensual sex.” If she didn’t secretly want it, she wouldn’t have dress like that, and had those drinks. Especially, the one with Rohypnol in it. She should have had a friend watching her drinks, if she weren’t looking for it.
My favourite bit of the statement (in a staring at a slow-motion car crash kind of way) is “legitimate rape”. You know, because he felt the need to underscore that he’s talking about really *rapey *rapes. Not one of those half-rapes where you can tell the sleazy slut is really into it, even as she’s crying for help and begging Daddy to stop in between sobs. Raping those girls is just fine. It’s really illegitimate to call *that *rape, amirite guys ?
And that’s where the whole female body shit gets off the ground : if she gets raped and winds up preggers, she must have been a slut all along and it weren’t rape ! Oh patriarchy, you so dreamy. Mr. Todd Akin ? Fuck off, would you kindly ? Keep fucking off. Never stop fucking off.
Assuming, conservatively, that 75% of those pregnancies are terminated within two months, about 6700 women are pregnant as the result of rape at any given time. More than a third of the US population lives in the 15 largest cities, so that leaves ~4500 women. The “most smallish towns” thing seems like a bit of a stretch.
I’ve seen a quote from Rand Paul (which I can’t find at the moment) that basically says that if a woman really was raped, the hospital would have dispensed contraceptives.
Of course, the flaw is this reasoning is apparent to anyone with any critical thinking skills.
What these clowns hear is, “Um, I’ve been raped. Yeah, that’s the ticket – raped. Even though I was dressed real sexy and teased him, it was really really rape. I’m pretty sure.”
Found the quote, it’s from a CNN interview. Pulled from a lefty site, still trying to find the original CNN link. Not quite what I remember. He appears to be differentiating between those who seek abortion for rape and those that seek abortion and just claim rape to get the abortion. Some hysterical people on the left latched on to the “honest rape” part of the quote and had a fit. Here’s an excerpt:
Board rules bar me from using a quote, but I have to point out that jayjay was a little off the mark:Well, the female body (and especially the area “down there”) IS, after all, a Great and Wonderful Mystery Of [DEL]Nature[/DEL] GodAlmightyThroughThePowerOfJesusChristAllPraiseHisNameAmenHallelujah which decent people would never try to know too much about…Incidentally, while I can’t find a link, I distinctly recall hearing another Republican legislator making a similar claim. Except in that case, he said that the Holy Ghost* would intervene and prevent the pregnancy. Anyone else recall that?
*Makes sense, since the HG already knows his(?) way around the female reproductive system. I mean, it worked with the Virgin Mary, didn’t it?