# Todd Akin \[rape does not result in pregnancy\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655 "2012-08-25T23:08:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![IceQube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/1 "2012-08-25T23:08:20Z")
Was he being factually accurate in his claim that the female body has ways of counteracting sperm from legitimate rape? If not, where did his unfounded assertion come from? Surely there had to have been some urban legend based on a modicum of scientific truth … :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/2 "2012-08-25T23:18:44Z")
It comes from other right-wing doctors seeking to make a case against all abortions. > **[The Friends of Todd Akin](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2012/08/the-friends-of-todd-akin.html)** > > A brief summary of the national politics surrounding l'affaire Todd Akin. > [@](#): > > To make that point he links to a 1999 essay by John C. Willke, M.D., former president of the National Right to Life committee. Willke: > > > [@](#): > > > > To get and stay pregnant a woman’s body must produce a very sophisticated mix of hormones. Hormone production is controlled by a part of the brain that is easily influenced by emotions. There’s no greater emotional trauma that can be experienced by a woman than an assault rape. This can radically upset her possibility of ovulation, fertilization, implantation and even nurturing of a pregnancy. So what further percentage reduction in pregnancy will this cause? No one knows, but this factor certainly cuts this last figure by at least 50 percent and probably more. Dr. Willkie maintains his view [to this day](http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/us/health-experts-dismiss-assertions-on-rape-649879/). > [@](#): > > “This is a traumatic thing – she’s, shall we say, she’s uptight,” Dr. Willke said of a woman being raped, adding, “She is frightened, tight, and so on. And sperm, if deposited in her vagina, are less likely to be able to fertilize. The tubes are spastic.” It is extremely hard, nigh unto impossible, to find mainstream doctors who will say this or anything similar. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Know\_Nothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f04885/32.png) [@I\_Know\_Nothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Know_Nothing)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/3 "2012-08-25T23:22:15Z")
Don’t have time to summarize but [this](http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/20/myth-about-rape-and-pregnancy-is-not-new/) article form the NYT has a great summary. Its about as dumb as the abortion breast caner thing. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/4 "2012-08-25T23:27:36Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > It comes from other right-wing doctors You give the issue too much credence. As far as I can tell, it’s only _one_ doctor who holds such views (the aforementioned Dr. Willke). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/5 "2012-08-25T23:32:23Z")
Edited title to indicate subject. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/6 "2012-08-25T23:35:41Z")
It was accepted medical wisdom at one point. That would be the point at which they still thought bleeding was a good cure for disease, and that maggots were spontaneously generated in wounds. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/7 "2012-08-25T23:59:15Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > You give the issue too much credence. As far as I can tell, it’s only _one_ doctor who holds such views (the aforementioned Dr. Willke). Wish this were true, but it’s a standard trope inside some anti-abortion circles. Maybe you should read I\_Know\_Nothing’s link to start. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/8 "2012-08-26T00:03:03Z")
[Rape Can and Does Cause Pregnancy, So Why Do People Think Otherwise?](http://infertility.about.com/b/2012/08/20/rape-can-and-does-cause-pregnancy-so-why-do-people-think-otherwise.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/9 "2012-08-26T00:13:50Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Wish this were true, but it’s a standard trope inside some anti-abortion circles. > > Maybe you should read I\_Know\_Nothing’s link to start. SMH. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/10 "2012-08-26T00:37:45Z")
> [@IceQube](#): > > Was he being factually accurate in his claim that the female body has ways of counteracting sperm from legitimate rape? Also, there is no such thing as “legitimate” rape any more than there is “legitimate” murder or “legitimate” theft. Rape is, by definition, illegal and non-consensual. It requires no adjective to make it so. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/11 "2012-08-26T00:39:11Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Wish this were true, but it’s a standard trope inside some anti-abortion circles. This brings a question to mind for me. These doctors, who have been trained for years to be experts in the field of medicine, _honestly_ believe this crap? That strains credulity. How could they? I, as a layman, laugh derisively at such claims, yet these medical experts put their expertise behind them. How can they even make a _seemingly_ legitimate medical case for these claims? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/12 "2012-08-26T00:48:15Z")
Easy: It’s seemingly legitimate by virtue of the fact that they and other medical doctors say it. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/13 "2012-08-26T00:54:50Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Easy: It’s seemingly legitimate by virtue of the fact that they and other medical doctors say it. So they are simply and blatantly using their positions as doctors _dishonestly_ to further their political goals? ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/14 "2012-08-26T00:57:17Z")
I understand his term “legitimate” to mean that small percentage of the sex acts termed rape, in which the man was actually to blame. In his view. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/15 "2012-08-26T01:02:14Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > I understand his term “legitimate” to mean that small percentage of the sex acts termed rape, in which the man was actually to blame. In his view. I heard one explanation that “legitimate” was meant to differentiate from “statutory.” -D/a ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/16 "2012-08-26T01:12:10Z")
Never underestimate the ability of anyone to ignore (nay, actively deny) facts that don’t fit their world view. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/17 "2012-08-26T01:34:30Z")
Perhaps the tiny nugget of quasi-truth (truthiness?) is that most rapes (“legitimate”, forcible, statutory, or ???) do not result in pregnancy. Of course Akin conveniently seems to forget that most sexual intercourse does not result in pregnancy anyway. In a deluded way of looking at this Akin may be ascribing causation where it does not belong. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/18 "2012-08-26T01:54:46Z")
“Legitimate rape” means someone other than a relative, like your sister or cousins. Isn’t that the way it goes back in the hills of Todd Akin’s Missouri? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/19 "2012-08-26T01:56:03Z")
> [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](#): > > I heard one explanation that “legitimate” was meant to differentiate from “statutory.” When he weant on Mike Huckabee’s radio show, [he said](http://gawker.com/5936769/relax--by-legitimate-rape-todd-akin-just-meant-when-the-womans-not-lying-about-being-raped) that he was differentiating between rape that actually happens and rape that women make up. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655/20 "2012-08-26T02:07:03Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > When he weant on Mike Huckabee’s radio show, [he said](http://gawker.com/5936769/relax--by-legitimate-rape-todd-akin-just-meant-when-the-womans-not-lying-about-being-raped) that he was differentiating between rape that actually happens and rape that women make up. This is what it comes down to; they believe _most_ pregnancies coming from rape are just unscrupulous women who are lying simply to gain access to abortion services (or for some other reason). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todd-akin-rape-does-not-result-in-pregnancy/632655.md?page=2)