Meet the man running for U.S. Senate from Missouri against Sen. Claire McCaskill (D). You’ve heard he’s very far right. You’ve heard he’s backed by the tea party. But have you heard that Rep. Todd Akin is nuts? You have now.
Akin’s bizarre theory that the female body has a way of guarding against pregnancy in cases of “legitimate” rape is just wacko. What way might that be, Todd? Does it secrete natural spermicides? Does the uterus jump out of the way of the incoming sperm? Does the female brain send a signal to the uterine wall to sneeze? Break it down for us.
In fact, about 5 percent of rapes of women of childbearing age and ability in the United States annually leave the victim pregnant. Notice I just said, “rape,” not “forcible rape,” or “legitimate rape,” or as Akin might put it, “real rape.”
Why are some men trying to pass laws about what women can and can’t do when they have no more understanding of women than a 12-year-old?
h/t to TPM
- Section: News & Comment
- Topics: Congress, Republicans, Tea Baggers, Tea Party
Really? 5% of rapes end in pregnancy? Sure about that? In an article attacking a wacko’s info, you didn’t bother looking up your own?
Actually, somewhere between 1 and 2 out of 1000 rapes result in pregnancy…little less than 5%, hm? Look it up.
Thanks for being such a close reader, dallas jenkins. I actually did look up the figure before I cited it, I just failed to link to the source. I have now done so. Speaking of which…where did you come up with “between 1 and 2 out of 1000?” I know there is a rightwing/Christianist effort to underplay the number of pregnancies resulting from rape, in order to make it seem that there is no need to keep abortion legal, but I would like to know if you were able to come up with a source that doesn’t have an agenda.
Back to what I posted — the 5 percent figure is only for women who are raped who are of child-bearing age and ability. So those younger and older than that, or who are unable to become pregnant, are obviously not figured in. I’m wondering if your “between 1 and 2 in 1000″ is counting ALL rapes and is therefore lowering the percentage?
[...] Politico reporter Dave Catanese took to Twitter to defend comments made by Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) about rape. [...]