Last year, Akin joined with GOP vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) as two of the original co-sponsors of the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” a bill which, among other things, introduced the country to the bizarre term “forcible rape.”If not for the public outcry, the term "forcible rape" language would have stayed in the bill:
Although a version of this bill passed the GOP-controlled House, the “forcible rape” language was eventually removed due to widespread public outcry. Paul Ryan, however, believes that the “forcible rape” language does not actually go far enough to force women to carry their rapist’s baby. Ryan believes that abortion should be illegal in all cases except for “cases in which a doctor deems an abortion necessary to save the mother’s life.” So rape survivors are out of luck.Someone must have gotten to Akin from the Senate Republicans or more likely the Romney campaign as he has now released a statement that he misspoke. Yeah right and there are pigs flying by my window. The cat is out of the bag as this is not the first time he has made comments about rape as he was part of a group including Paul Ryan in the House of Representatives last year supporting a bill changing the definition of rape to include only “forcible rape.”
More from Michelle Goldberg who explains who Akin and Ryan would likely target:
Under H.R. 3, only victims of “forcible rape” would qualify for federally funded abortions. Victims of statutory rape—say, a 13-year-old girl impregnated by a 30-year-old man—would be on their own. So would victims of incest if they’re over 18. And while “forcible rape” isn’t defined in the criminal code, the addition of the adjective seems certain to exclude acts of rape that don’t involve overt violence—say, cases where a woman is drugged or has a limited mental capacity. “It’s basically putting more restrictions on what was defined historically as rape,” says Keenan.
Akin is against the morning after pill given to rape victims as he sees it as a form of abortion. In his mind if they won't become pregnant from a rape, how does he call the morning after pill a form of abortion?
Do people like Akin and Ryan want women who become pregnant from rape and incest to have to go back to the back alley abortions which were done away with when the SCOTUS ruled on Roe v Wade? More importantly do the Republican men who think like this neanderthal want women to leave the Republican Party in droves because a lot of women including Republican women find his comments reprehensible. If he had any integrity, he would withdraw from the race. So this is what the candidates from the Koch Brothers/Romney Tea Party Republican Party look like? They truly have started a war on women!
Women in MO better think twice about voting for Akin for the US Senate or for the Romney/Ryan ticket since Paul Ryan shares Akin's views. If he the best the GOP has to offer in the Missouri Senate race then Republicans deserve to lose big for choosing a far right winger to run for Senate who has offended women of America with his remarks. No amount of saying he misspoke is going to change most women's minds because his original comments are so outrageous.
GOP Senate Candidate: Victims Of ‘Legitimate Rape’ Won’t Become Pregnant
By Zack Beauchamp posted from ThinkProgress Justice on Aug 19, 2012 at 5:40 pm
Senate Candidate and Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) told a local television station on Sunday that “legitimate rape” rarely produces pregnancy because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” Akin cited conversations with unnamed doctors for the bizarre claim.
Watch it:
Akin in coordination with Paul Ryan sponsored legislation that would redefine rape in federal law to limit funding for abortion providers and has a long track record of uninformed and extreme views about women’s health. He has a consistently radical anti-choice voting record in the House, wants to ban the morning after pill, and has expressed concern that criminalizing marital rape gives women “a legal weapon to beat up on the husband” during a divorce.
Akin’s crusade against women’s access to medical services fits with his broader worldview, which is heavily influenced by a particularly virulent group of fundamentalist thinkers described as “Christian supremacists” by the Anti-Defamation League.The NY Times shows the same video in their article which has an update from Senator McCaskill:
Candidate’s Comments on Rape Draw Criticism
By REBECCA BERG
Comments by Representative Todd Akin, a Republican running to unseat Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, are drawing condemnation after he asserted that victims of “a legitimate rape” have biological mechanisms to prevent pregnancy.
“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” Mr. Akin told KTVI-TV of St. Louis in an interview that was broadcast on Sunday.
The comments drew a sharp rebuke on Sunday from Senator McCaskill, who is in a tough fight against the Republican candidate.
“It is beyond comprehension that someone can be so ignorant about the emotional and physical trauma brought on by rape,” the senator said in a statement. “The ideas that Todd Akin has expressed about the serious crime of rape and the impact on its victims are offensive.”
Mr. Akin later released a statement saying he “misspoke.”
(snip)
Mr. Akin has been a staunch opponent of abortion as a lawmaker and on the campaign trail; he also opposes the morning-after pill, which he considers to be a form of abortion.
Last year, House Republicans, Mr. Akin among them, supported a bill changing the definition of rape to include only “forcible rape.”
“This is clearly something that he believes,” an aide to Ms. McCaskill said Sunday.
Excerpt: Read More at the NY Times
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1 comment:
What's the use? It is obvious women don't amount to much in the post-GOP Tea Party world. I guess a burka is next.
SJR
The Pink Flamingo
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