Do You Agree with Rep. Todd Akin (R- Missouri) About the Issue of Abortion Due to Rape?

by Jalysa Ellis Posted 2012/08/20 02:02:25

Related Topics: Tea Party, Abortion, Rape, Party, Media, Video, Claire McCaskill, Claire, Mccaskill, Candidate, Contraception, Missouri, Tumblr, Senator, Television

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Rep. Todd Akin, a tea party candidate, who is challenging the current Senator, Claire McCaskill (D), was recently asked in a local television interview about whether he supports access to abortion in the case of rape. According to him, the female reproductive system shuts down during when the woman is being raped, which then prevents contraception.
What do you think? Do you agree or think he might have lost a few of his marbles?

female reproductive shuts woman raped prevents contraception nbsp lost marbles

female reproductive shuts woman raped prevents contraception nbsp lost marbles

(The video of the interview and an article describing it can be seen by clicking the link below.)

MO.gal 2012/08/20 03:42:04

+14
I am from Missouri and I would never vote for Todd Akin. He has several ideas I could never go along with, the issue of pregnancy from rape being one of them. Stopping the school lunch program being another. For some children the school lunch is the only meal they have all day. If he is so concerned about children, how can he look in the eyes of hungry children and deny them 1 meal a day?
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Cat 2012/08/24 03:29:04

+1
I think HE IS WRONG. I've heard of extreme emotional trauma triggering premature traumatic menstruation, but I've never known anybody who ever experienced such a thing. I did meet somebody who was impregnated by a rapist, and carrying the baby to term put her a year behind in college. The healthy normal baby girl was adopted out so she could get her education.

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Glitchie 2012/08/22 07:04:18

+3
No I don't. I wish that male pregnancy was possible and let HIM get RAPED and see how HE handles it! I don't know a word foul enough to describe my feelings toward this man!!

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Mr. Wonderful 2012/08/21 16:06:38
sjalan 2012/08/21 07:53:28

+3
No I don't agree with him. He should resign and not run for the senate seat either.

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Me 2012/08/21 03:22:43

+2
nope

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vis_viva 2012/08/21 01:32:47

+2
And the Christine O'Donnell award for costing the Republicans a senate seat goes to....

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LittleMistersMom 2012/08/20 19:28:49

+5

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penguins in the night 2012/08/20 19:13:11

+6
No. This man is a clear example the education system in the U.S. has failed, if he really believes the crap he's slinging about how the female anatomy works he didn't do well in school. It scares me to think these are the people we choose to be in these positions of power.

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Singerar 2012/08/20 18:41:31

+6
I find it scary that someone like Todd Akin is running for Senate. His words were disgusting and terribly ignorant.

(....the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.) REALLY?!?!?!

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Outtolunch 2012/08/20 18:15:44

+6
I think someone failed Biology class!!!

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Lady Wh... to Outtolunch 2012/08/20 21:01:11

+4
YA THINK?

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Jalysa ... to Outtolunch 2012/08/21 01:35:44

+1
And sex-ed. Thanks for commenting.

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Deliciously Melicious 2012/08/20 17:18:38

+6
Of course I don't agree. The man is an offensive idiot.

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elijahin24 2012/08/20 17:15:40

+5
This man demonstrates how the so-called "Pro-Life" Movement has completely gone off the rails. Whether you think abortion should be legal or not, no reasonable person can possibly be a part of this movement anymore. That is because the Movement is no longer about protecting what they believe to be innocent unborn babies. Today, it's about denying individuals sovereignty over their own sexuality. The term "Legitimate rape" suggests that some rapes are not really rapes, particularly those which result in pregnancy. Presumably, that would also mean that if a woman rapes a man, it doesn't count because he had to have an erection, which would presumably indicate his consent. Likewise, if a woman climaxes during a rape, that could indicate her consent. The implication being that if you want to rape someone, that's fine, as long as you get them off. This is horrifying, and this guy wants to represent MY state in the Senate. And he is not alone in his beliefs about this. Akin is actually the third Pro-Lifer, I've heard use the term "legitimate rape". If these lunatics win, your sexuality will no longer be your own. If they are able to get enough of them into public office, and they act on these beliefs, they could essentially make rape, legal.

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Jalysa ... to elijahin24 2012/08/21 01:34:59 (edited)

+1
I agree.Thank you for your comment, elijahin24.

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Lee to elijahin24 2012/08/24 18:29:41

+1
What do you expect?

Right Wing Nut Jobs are Nut Jobs.

That's why they're called Nut Jobs.

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elijahin24 to Lee 2012/08/26 15:31:00

+1
That's hard to dispute.

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TheFightingPanties 2012/08/20 15:19:36

+3
I'm actually surprised in the best way that this man is being called out on anything. He and many in his party have been saying and doing much in the way of awful things, to women and everyone else that isn't straight, white, Christian, cis male with a very specific view of the Bible and a colossal amount of money in the bank. The Fair Pay act, the Ohio Secretary of State being against early voting over evenings and weekends even after being told that it'd affect poor people and people of color, Ryan's budget that would cut the 716 billion from Medicare with no attempt at regulating wasteful over spending, it just goes on and on. I hope this man gets pulled from the ballot, and banished from the political scene forever, but he is just the cherry on top of the sundae of awful that the GOP has been serving for the past several years.

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Glfer65 2012/08/20 15:14:12

+3
Hmmm, I did know that a woman could be legitimately raped in a legal sense of the term? So if some guy rapes a woman he can claim legitimate rape and get off? How about that. Seriously, rape is rape and a fertile woman can get pregnant during a rape anytime.

While it is rare (think condoms and not really inserting their penis but a foreign object) that women get pregnant during one how can this justify this? He needs to call home or the hole in the ground to find out where he left his brain.

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flrdsgns 2012/08/20 15:11:52

+7
This man is a complete fool. Just more proof of the republicans war on women.

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Lady Wh... to flrdsgns 2012/08/20 21:01:32

+3
yup

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lurx: the soda jerk 2012/08/20 11:31:12

+7
...if Representative Todd Akin wins his upcoming election, does that mean that the people of Missouri are going to be "legitimately raped"?

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Jalysa ... to lurx: t... 2012/08/20 13:53:41

+3

Let's hope not. Thank you for your comment, lurx.

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(▪‿▪)DoctorWhoGuru(▪‿▪) 2012/08/20 11:01:37 (edited)

+6

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Jalysa ... to (▪‿▪)Do... 2012/08/20 13:56:22 (edited)

+2
Apparently so, Doc. He must have skipped health class the day they were going over the female reproductive system. Thanks for commenting.

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flrdsgns to (▪‿▪)Do... 2012/08/20 15:14:02

+3
That isn't true doc. Rep Akin knows the republican mind has ways of ignoring facts.

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Lady Whitewolf 2012/08/20 10:22:30

+8
The guy sounds like an idiot.

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Jalysa ... to Lady Wh... 2012/08/20 13:57:52

+1
Yeah he does, or maybe he's just REEEEEEEALLY misinformed. Thank you for commenting, my Lady.

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Lady Wh... to Jalysa ... 2012/08/20 21:00:23

Any time!

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elptrek P.H.A.E.T.'s wizard 2012/08/20 08:20:19

+8
I don't think he has lost a few marbles, he never had any to begin with.

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Jalysa ... to elptrek... 2012/08/20 13:58:22

+2
That seems to be the case, elptrek. Thank you for taking time to comment.

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elptrek... to Jalysa ... 2012/08/21 09:21:21

+2

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Scream 2012/08/20 07:18:08 (edited)

+5

That's a good one.

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Jalysa ... to Scream 2012/08/20 13:59:34

Thank you for commenting, Emirisan.

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my2cents 2012/08/20 06:24:48

+9
I heard this when I was in high school in the early 1970s. Pregnancy from rape is actually very common. It's saying that if a woman conceives from a rape, then it really wasn't a rape, that a woman can only get pregnant if she enjoyed the attack. So women who get pregnant from rapes are really sluts.

It's from the Rush Limbaugh School of Sex Education.

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Jalysa ... to my2cents 2012/08/20 14:03:05

+2
That was also the belief back in the middle ages. They believed the only way a woman can conceive is if she had an orgasm; so if a woman was raped, she had no way of proving she was raped, and if she gets pregnant she must have had an orgasm, thus enjoyed the rape.
I don't think I'll enroll into that school any time soon... <.< Thank you for your 2 cents, my2cents. (baboom tsk!).... Sorry I couldn't help myself. v.v

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MO.gal 2012/08/20 03:42:04

+14
I am from Missouri and I would never vote for Todd Akin. He has several ideas I could never go along with, the issue of pregnancy from rape being one of them. Stopping the school lunch program being another. For some children the school lunch is the only meal they have all day. If he is so concerned about children, how can he look in the eyes of hungry children and deny them 1 meal a day?

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Jalysa ... to MO.gal 2012/08/20 14:05:36

+3
This guy just keeps sounding worse and worse, I swear. Thank you MO.gal, for your comment. Guys like this shouldn't even have a little bit of the power he already has.

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Tastentier 2012/08/20 03:35:46 (edited)

Actually, there is a little truth to that (emphasis on "little"). I read the following quote in an article on Psychology Today a while back:

"Doctors have known since the mid-1980s that couples suffering repeated spontaneous abortions tend to share more of their MHC [i.e., have more similar immune systems] than couples for whom pregnancies are carried to term. ...
The Swiss team believes that MHC-related pregnancy problems in humans are too widespread to be due to inbreeding alone. They argue that in-couple infertility problems are due to strategic, unconscious "decisions" made by women bodies to curtail investment in offspring with inferior immune systems—offspring unlikely to have survived to adulthood in the environments of our evolutionary past."

Source: http://www.psychologytoday.co...

So it is possible that the subconscious decision to not carry a pregnancy to term leads to a rejection of the fertilized egg, or to a miscarriage at a later point. But it's also possible that this phenomenon only occurs when the scent of a woman's partner indicates an immune system that is very similar to her own, and would therefore reduce the survival chances of their mutual offspring.

No matter if the same response also occurs in cases of rape pregnancy or not, rape pregnancy is not quite as ...

Actually, there is a little truth to that (emphasis on "little"). I read the following quote in an article on Psychology Today a while back:

"Doctors have known since the mid-1980s that couples suffering repeated spontaneous abortions tend to share more of their MHC [i.e., have more similar immune systems] than couples for whom pregnancies are carried to term. ...
The Swiss team believes that MHC-related pregnancy problems in humans are too widespread to be due to inbreeding alone. They argue that in-couple infertility problems are due to strategic, unconscious "decisions" made by women bodies to curtail investment in offspring with inferior immune systems—offspring unlikely to have survived to adulthood in the environments of our evolutionary past."

Source: http://www.psychologytoday.co...

So it is possible that the subconscious decision to not carry a pregnancy to term leads to a rejection of the fertilized egg, or to a miscarriage at a later point. But it's also possible that this phenomenon only occurs when the scent of a woman's partner indicates an immune system that is very similar to her own, and would therefore reduce the survival chances of their mutual offspring.

No matter if the same response also occurs in cases of rape pregnancy or not, rape pregnancy is not quite as rare as Mr. Akin makes it out to be. I'm sad to say this, but rape was a gruesomely successful procreative strategy throughout human history. Warriors fathered lots of children in times of war, slave owners fathered illegitimate children, and husbands in arranged marriages abused their unwilling brides until they gave them a son. The alleged rarity of rape pregnancy is wishful thinking.
(more)

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Jalysa ... to Tastentier 2012/08/20 14:10:12

+1
It's like when a girl subconsciously wants a baby and her body will take on all the symptoms of being pregnant, even going so far as to expand the stomach area and stop her menstrual cycle. I think I'll read up on that article as well. Thank you, Tastentier.

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