http:\/\/fox2now.com\/2012\/08\/19\/the-jaco-report-august-19-2012\/<\/a><\/p>\nThey are talking about the circumstances in which abortion should be legal.<\/p>\n
Interviewer: What about in the case of rape, should it be legal or not?<\/p>\n
Congressman Todd Akin: \u201cWell, you know, uhh uhh people always want to try and make that as how do ya, how do ya slice this particularly tough sort of ethical question. \u00a0It seems to me, first of all from what I understand from doctors that\u2019s really rare, if it\u2019s a legitimate rape the female body has a way of shutting that whole thing down.\u201d<\/p>\n
My comments:\u00a0 I’m disgusted about everything Mr. Akin said.<\/p>\n
Firstly, the question is a simple one.\u00a0 Should abortion be legal in the case of rape?\u00a0 This is NOT a \u201cparticularly tough sort of ethical question\u201d.\u00a0 It is an extremely simple question, that a simple Yes, or No serves perfectly well to answer.\u00a0 You are being asked for your opinion, Mr Akin.\u00a0\u00a0 Yes, or No?<\/p>\n
Next. \u201cIt seems to me, first of all from what I understand from doctors that\u2019s really rare,\u2026\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Mr. Akin allegedly got this \u201cinformation\u201d from doctors<\/em>, plural?\u00a0 OK, bring out these doctors and let them turn into pariahs, just as you are rapidly and most deservedly becoming.<\/p>\nNext.\u00a0 \u201cif it\u2019s a legitimate rape\u201d \u00a0Rape is NEVER legitimate.<\/p>\n
Next. \u201cthe female body has a way of shutting that whole thing down.\u201d\u00a0 No. Just NO!<\/strong>\u00a0 The bodies of female mammals do not have natural, inherent mechanisms to prevent pregnancy, other than abstinence.\u00a0 If both parties are fertile at the time of intercourse, the female is likely to become pregnant.\u00a0 Yes, she may spontaneously abort if the fetus is not viable, but she has no control over that either.\u00a0 She cannot shut down \u201cthat whole thing<\/em>\u201d. What grade\u00a0level are you\u00a0Mr. Akin?\u00a0 Does using stupid euphemisms like \u201cthat whole thing<\/em>\u201d do the question of rape and its long-term effects justice?<\/p>\nMr. Akin later prepared and released a statement about the interview.\u00a0 This was not an apology, but more political spin. \u00a0My comments appear in italics after each paragraph.<\/p>\n
Akin<\/strong>, \u201cAs a member of Congress, I believe that working to protect the most vulnerable in our society is one of my most important responsibilities, and that includes protecting both the unborn and victims of sexual assault.\u00a0 In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it\u2019s clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year.\u00a0 Those who perpetrate these crimes are the lowest of the low in our society and their victims will have no stronger advocate in the Senate to help ensure they have the justice they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\nIf you believe protecting the vulnerable is important, then get off your high horse and do it – by starting with the women who are raped.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nYour remarks were not \u201coff-the-cuff<\/span>\u201d, I listened to what you said over twenty times and there is no doubt in my mind that you had prepared and rehearsed every\u00a0word.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cthe thousands of women who are raped and abused every year\u201d WOW!!!!\u00a0 What universe do you live in Mr. Akin, because is not the one the Earth occupies.\u00a0 Thousands of women?\u00a0 Millions would be much closer to the mark<\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n\u201cThose who perpetrate these crimes are the lowest of the low\u201d \u2013 I agree.\u00a0 Precisely what do you intend to do about these \u201cthousands\u201d of criminals, Mr. Akin?\u00a0 Oh \u2013 you are more interested in punishing their victims than the rapists?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\u201ctheir victims will have no stronger advocate in the Senate\u201d \u2013 than whom?\u00a0 Certainly not Mr. Akin, who truly believes the punishment for being the victim of rape should last said victim her entire life.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nAkin<\/strong>, \u201cI recognize that abortion, and particularly in the case of rape, is a very emotionally charged issue.\u00a0 But I believe deeply in the protection of all life and I do not believe that harming another innocent victim is the right course of action. I also recognize that there are those who, like my opponent, support abortion and I understand I may not have their support in this election.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cI do not believe that harming another innocent victim is the right course of action\u201d \u2013 sounds laudable… unfortunately the REAL victim, namely the woman who was raped, has to carry the reminder of that crime for the rest of her life.\u00a0 Compelling her to do so is far beyond cruel, it is abhorrent and despicable.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI also recognize that there are those who, like my opponent, support abortion and I understand I may not have their support in this election.\u201d \u2013 \u00a0what an OFFENSIVE<\/strong> statement. \u00a0I absolutely do not support abortion and your inference that I do offends me deeply.\u00a0 Nobody I know supports abortion. Nobody!\u00a0 What many of us support is a woman’s right to choose. As for my personal belief, it is that a pregnancy resulting from consensual sex between to committed loving adults is a wonderful thing to be cherished.\u00a0 A pregnancy resulting from rape does not fall within those confines.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nFurthermore, Mr. Akin, I would never dream of forcing my beliefs on any woman \u2013 she and her physician must live with their consciences in regard to any decision they make regarding abortion.<\/p>\n
The rest of Mr. Akin\u2019s statement had nothing to do with the issue of rape, and I will not include it here.<\/p>\n
In summary, here is the Tweet I posted this morning:-<\/p>\n
Legitimate rape? Unless sex is consensual, conscious, un-coerced and between adults, it is rape. Rape is never “legitimate”, Mr. Todd Akin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While driving to work yesterday morning, I overheard a snippet on the radio about someone who said that raped women could somehow prevent themselves becoming pregnant.\u00a0 I was appalled, so I researched it last night. I\u2019m blogging about it now because, sadly, this kind of unmitigated nonsense has a nasty way of being spun until […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cgayling.com\/malmaxa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}