The Chump Hits the Big Time: Rep. Todd Akin Says Victims of "Legitimate Rape" Don't Get Pregnant
Spread the word
|
|
Missouri Congressman and Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin has always been out of touch when it comes to women’s health issues, but on Sunday he went too far when he claimed that women who are the victims of "legitimate rape" don’t get pregnant.
Akin was asked why he doesn’t support abortion in most cases of rape. Here is Rep. Akin in his own words:
"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. But let's assume maybe that didn't work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist."
Make no mistake, Akin didn’t misspeak. This is exactly what he, and a number of out-of-touch opponents of women’s health, many of whom are members of Congress, believe. Why else would they vote for H.R. 3—the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act”?
The extreme and dangerous bill, which Akin was an original co-sponsor for along with Mitt Romney’s chosen running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, created an entirely new category of rape—“forcible rape”—that would force women to document rape or incest for tax purposes. Because there was so much outrage over this newly minted definition, that language was eventually dropped, but the bill did pass the Republican House with the support of many resident chumps, including Reps. Ann-Marie Buerkele, Steve King, Dennis Rehberg, Joe Walsh, and Allen West.
While these out-of-touch politicians may try to distance themselves from Akin’s offensive comments, they can’t run away from their own record.
By narrowing the definition of rape, H.R. 3 would exclude a number of women from receiving coverage for abortions on the absurd and offensive premise that there are varying degrees of rape. Excluded from this redefinition would be:
- women who are unconscious at the time of the rape
- women who have been drugged
- women who have been threatened
- minors who are victims of statutory rape
No matter what Akin and his fellow opponents of women’s health may say, rape is rape, and to suggest otherwise is inaccurate and minimizes the seriousness of such an awful crime.
In addition to the already horrible circus the bill would subject rape victims to, it would also undermine a woman’s ability to make private and personal decisions about her own health care by imposing a tax increase based on a number of private health care decisions, including whether to have an abortion and whether to have a health insurance plan that covers abortion.
But if this isn’t enough to prove just how out of touch Akin is, let’s add his co-sponsorship of and vote for the so-called “Protect Life Act” (also known as the “Let Women Die” act), which would let a health care provider deny women a life-saving abortion if it were against his or her personal beliefs. Furthermore, hospitals that receive federal funds but are opposed to abortions would be allowed to turn away women in need of emergency abortions to save their lives.
There is no doubt about it: Rep. Todd Akin is wrong for women. Take action today!
