Todd Akin medival concept

[Foxrac]

I didn't know you lived in Missouri now.

I think you are just too crack now.

he's not referring to Missouri politicians. He said "....any right wing politicians" as Todd Akin seems to be what overall GOP represents as.

"Legitimate Rape"? seriously?

Yup, that's right.

 

[ambrosia]

no.... That's not what he said.

Todd Akin said “It seems to be, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, it’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down.”

seriously? what a lame-duck explanation.


the difference is... Biden's gaffe regarding slavery is not a representative of his view on any legislation bill. Akin's comment clearly reveals that he is opposed to abortion and his belief that women somehow have an ability to "shut down" to prevent pregnancy in case of "legitimate rape".

Exactly, Biden's "gaffe" was the result of a metaphor that didn't come out too clear. Akin was a balled face lie about science. No doctor ever told him that. He didn't say a wrong word, bumble his facts, it wasn't a "gaffe". It was him saying something that is completely utterly unfactual that blew up in his face. The two instances are really not comparable at all.

 

[Jiro]

Raped, pregnant and ordeal not over - CNN.com

Chicago, Illinois (CNN) -- When I was in law school, my criminal law professor introduced us to the crime of rape by reading us a quote from Lord Chief Justice Sir Matthew Hale, a 17th-century English jurist: "In a rape case it is the victim, not the defendant, who is on trial."

It was not merely a history lesson. I had lived it.

While a student in my final year of college, at age 21, I was raped. I have dissected that moment -- the horrifying moment that I became a "victim" -- from every possible angle. I have poked and prodded, examined and re-examined. Regrettably, I have even suspected myself in a desperate, ultimately futile attempt to understand how I became a victim.

But blaming myself was neither my idea nor my first inclination. I thought such 17th-century notions were long dead. I was wrong. People who did not even know me were quick to comment or speculate on my rape. What were you wearing? Did you scream loudly? Did this occur in public?

'Legitimate rape' reaction, from the Congo to black crickets

As my history lesson said, I found myself on trial, facing the most fierce judge and jury: ignorance.

Eight years after my rape, I find myself on trial against ignorance again. Rep. Todd Akin's recent comments that "legitimate rape" rarely results in pregnancy not only flout scientific fact but, for me, cut deeper. Akin has de-legitimized my rape.

You see, nine months after my rape, I gave birth to a beautiful little girl. You could say she was conceived in rape; she was. But she is also so much more than her beginnings. I blissfully believed that after I finally had decided to give birth to and to raise my daughter, life would be all roses and endless days at the playground. I was wrong again.

It would not be long before I would learn firsthand that in the vast majority of states -- 31 -- men who father through rape are able to assert the same custody and visitation rights to their children that other fathers enjoy. When no law prohibits a rapist from exercising these rights, a woman may feel forced to bargain away her legal rights to a criminal trial in exchange for the rapist dropping the bid to have access to her child.

Opinion: Wake up, it's not just Akin

When faced with the choice between a lifetime tethered to her rapist or meaningful legal redress, the answer may be easy, but it is not painless. For the sake of her child, the woman will sacrifice her need to see her once immensely powerful perpetrator humbled by the court.

I know it because I lived it. I went to law school to learn how to stop it.

Having fought this injustice for the past several years, I have come to believe that ignorance is to blame for this legal absence. Opponents argue no woman would ever choose to raise the child she conceived through rape. The only two studies to analyze the choices made by pregnant raped women indicate otherwise -- at least 30% of women who conceive by rape make this choice.

Others argue that no rapist would ever seek parental rights. Not only does my experience and that of others I know prove otherwise, but it is not surprising that a man who cruelly degrades a woman would also seek to torture her in an even more agonizing way, by seeking access to her child.

Today, it seems we may face a new and unbelievable challenge: convincing legislators that women can conceive when they are raped.

Make no mistake, my efforts and the efforts of others to persuade legislators to pass laws restricting the parental rights of men who father through rape will be directly impacted by Akin's recent comments. Whether these efforts will be helped or hurt, however, depends upon us as a society.

Either we will fight ignorance and take steps to legislate for raped women based upon reason and facts, or we will be led by ignorance and continue to make bad laws. Or fail to make good ones.

 

[whatdidyousay!]

I just can't get past the term' legitimate' rape. He obviously must fall into that category of people who think the woman was asking for it. grrrrr and to actually believe that a woman's reproductive system has it's own brain apparently and knows where the sperm came from is just mind boggling stupid. I was literally flabbergasted when I saw stuff about thin on Fb last night. This btw, this is the same man that wants to halt federal funding for his state's lunch program that feeds like 650,000 kids.

He's not just republican, he's a Tea Party backed repub, that pretty much says it all fro me. Know what's hysterical he serves on the House's Science Space and Technology Committee.....pretty scarey huh....science doesn't seem to be his strong suit.

Will some men brains are in their penises and Akin may be one of the and therefore think women bodies works the same way.

 

[Jiro]

Experts: Rape does not lower odds of pregnancy - CNN.com

(CNN) -- A woman's chances of becoming pregnant are the same after rape as they are after consensual sex, according to medical experts and published studies.

Their conclusion contradicts a statement made last weekend by Rep. Todd Akin, R-Missouri, who suggested in an interview with CNN affiliate KTVI that rape rarely results in pregnancy.

"From what I understand from doctors, that's really rare," said the U.S. Senate candidate in response to a question about whether abortion should be legal in cases of rape. "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try and shut that whole thing down."

Akin defies mounting calls to withdraw from Senate race

Akin's supporters say he was given misinformation that appears to stem from a 1999 article by Dr. John C. Willke, the former president of the National Right to Life Committee.

Willke wrote that rape pregnancies are "extremely rare" and that the stress of rape helps prevent pregnancy.

"To get and stay pregnant a woman's body must produce a very sophisticated mix of hormones," Willke wrote in a 1999 article published in "Life Issues Connector," an anti-abortion newsletter. "Hormone production is controlled by a part of the brain that is easily influenced by emotions. There's no greater emotional trauma that can be experienced by a woman than an assault rape. This can radically upset her possibility of ovulation, fertilization, implantation and even nurturing of a pregnancy."

Willke, who is in his late 80s and lives in Cincinnati, did not return a call from CNN.

But scientific data support neither Willke's assertion nor Akin's statements, according to experts.

"What we know is that chronic stress can decrease fertility," said Dr. Sharon Phelan, a fellow at the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of New Mexico, in a telephone interview with CNN.

Phelan cites emotional, medical or nutritional stress as forms of chronic stress.

"The acute stress does not have the same impact," she added, referring to the act of rape.

A 1996 study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology estimated 32,101 pregnancies in the United States each year result from rape.

Opinion: Rape can make you pregnant. Period.

Generally, a single act of a rape has about a 5% chance of resulting in pregnancy among victims aged 12 to 45 who are not on birth control, according to ACOG figures. But experts say that percentage fluctuates greatly, depending on a woman's ovulation cycle at the time of intercourse.

Three days prior to ovulation, a woman has a 15% chance of pregnancy after a sexual encounter; one to two days prior to ovulation, the odds double to 30%; they plummet to 12% on the day of ovulation, Phelan said.

"Since a rape would likely happen at any point in the cycle, the overall risk -- without considering day of cycle -- would be close to a 16% chance of occurring on a fertile day and then there is, at maximum, a 30% chance of conception," Phelan said.

While the stress associated with rape may not lower a victim's risk of becoming pregnant, rapists often do not ejaculate, thereby decreasing their victims' risk of pregnancy, said Phelan.

Akin has apologized for his remarks.

"I had heard one time a medical report that it's hard to get, it's harder for somebody to get pregnant under those conditions," he told radio host Sean Hannity on Monday. "I don't believe that's true now. In fact, I've checked the facts and that's wrong. I was just wrong in that statement."

Akin asks for 'forgiveness' in new TV ad

Dr. David Grimes, a clinical professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, said he was shocked when he heard Akin's original remarks.

"That's part of the broad theme here of misogyny -- that women are responsible for being raped; they brought it on themselves through their provocative behavior or clothing," Grimes told "AC360" on Tuesday night. "Then, on top of that, should they be raped -- and if they get pregnant -- that, too, is their fault. It's a double whammy. It's cruel beyond words."

Grimes rejected the authority of Willke, a general practitioner, to make such statements. "He has no scientific credentials," said Grimes, who serves on the editorial boards of several publications, including Obstetrics and Gynecology, Obstetrical and Gynecological Survey and the journal Contraception.

"In medicine, opinions count only to the extent that they're borne out or supported by evidence. No evidence at all supports Dr. Willke's bizarre theories."

 

[TXgolfer]

um...... no....

his statement was that the reason why pregnancy resulting from rape is rare is because the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down "if it’s a legitimate rape."

NO studies have supported his statement.
ALL doctors have disputed his statement.
ALL rape survivors disputed his statement.

That is not correct, there are studies that support this, there are Dr's who have supported this. There are also Dr's and studies that argue against this. Perhaps you should do more research.

Also, the "all rape survivors disputed" thing is a pretty ridiculous statement. They fact is, there is no conclusive answer at this time. Mind you, I am not saying he is correct. Just that there are some studies that support him.

 

[ambrosia]

Will some men brains are in their penises and Akin may be one of the and therefore think women bodies works the same way.

lol could be, but this is actually an old idea not one told to him by "doctors". This is what caz12 was talking about. This is a myth that has gone on for centuries. He was trying to say rape is not a reason for abortion because if a woman gets pregnant, well she must not have really been raped, it wasn't a "legitimate" rape.

Myth About Rape and Pregnancy Is Not New - NYTimes.com

But then you have these dunderheads "Christian Life Resources"

This article was written in 1999
Christian Life Resources

I'm going to copy and paste one of the last paragraphs in it....

Finally, factor in what is certainly one of the most important reasons why a rape victim rarely gets pregnant, and that's physical trauma. Every woman is aware that stress and emotional factors can alter her menstrual cycle. To get and stay pregnant a woman's body must produce a very sophisticated mix of hormones. Hormone production is controlled by a part of the brain that is easily influenced by emotions. There's no greater emotional trauma that can be experienced by a woman than an assault rape. This can radically upset her possibility of ovulation, fertilization, implantation and even nurturing of a pregnancy. So what further percentage reduction in pregnancy will this cause? No one knows, but this factor certainly cuts this last figure by at least 50 percent and probably more. If we use the 50 percent figure, we have a final figure of 225 (or 370) women pregnant each year. These numbers closely match the 200 that have been documented in clinical studies.

See the part I bolded? "No one knows, but this factor certainly cuts this figure by 50% This is where he's getting this crap. Know one knows, and a doctor will tell you it's ludicrous, but we think it makes sense so it must be so. If a woman gets pregnant by rape, well then she wasn't raped, she's lying, so therefore that's no reason to get an abortion. That's what he's saying. That's what he's thinking.

 

[Jiro]

That is not correct, there are studies that support this, there are Dr's who have supported this. There are also Dr's and studies that argue against this. Perhaps you should do more research.

Also, the "all rape survivors disputed" thing is a pretty ridiculous statement. They fact is, there is no conclusive answer at this time. Mind you, I am not saying he is correct. Just that there are some studies that support him.

perhaps you should do more research and you will see that these so-called studies are fallacious. You must be referring to Dr. Willke's study :roll:

But scientific data support neither Willke's assertion nor Akin's statements, according to experts.

 

[whatdidyousay!]

Exactly, Biden's "gaffe" was the result of a metaphor that didn't come out too clear. Akin was a balled face lie about science. No doctor ever told him that. He didn't say a wrong word, bumble his facts, it wasn't a "gaffe". It was him saying something that is completely utterly unfactual that blew up in his face. The two instances are really not comparable at all.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/us/politics/rape-assertions-are-dismissed-by-health-experts.html



I believes Atkin was quoting the doctor in this story and that Atkin does believes what he said about rape victims not being able to get pregnant . I agree that this blew up in his face and there is a list of GOP that want Atkin to drop out of the race. Scott Brown from Mass. in on that list , that is good to know.

 

[TXgolfer]

perhaps you should do more research and you will see that these so-called studies are fallacious. You must be referring to Dr. Willke's study :roll:

Actually, no, I am not.