Widely criticized comments by US Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri have politicians on both sides of the aisle reiterating their views on abortion. CNN quotes Akin’s original remarks as to whether he supports abortion in the case pregnancy resulting from rape:
“First of all, 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.”
Akin later said that he “misspoke,” but the remarks will likely cost him his Senate campaign, as members of his own party are calling for him to step down. In addition, both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney denounced the Representative’s remarks.
According to The Huffington Post, President Obama had this to say:
“The views expressed were offensive…Rape is rape. And the idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we are talking about doesn’t make sense to the American people and certainly doesn’t make sense to me. So what I think these comments do underscore is why we shouldn’t have a bunch of politicians, a majority of whom are men, making health care decisions on behalf of women.”
Many media outlets are pointing out that Republican vice presidential nominee Representative Paul Ryan has previously worked with Akin on legislation that would narrow the definition of rape. Regardless, Mitt Romney spoke for both himself and Ryan in saying, “Congressman Akin’s comments on rape are insulting, inexcusable, and, frankly, wrong…Like millions of other Americans, we found them to be offensive” reported The Huffington Post.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post has written about a study that found “a single act of rape was more than twice as likely to result in pregnancy than an act of consensual sex.” Previous studies showed “lower rate of pregnancy among rape victims,” but even so, the unfounded “science” behind Akin’s original remark has been severely taken to task.
Photo Source: The Daily Caller