U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, the Republican candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in Missouri, has unintentionally strengthened the argument for comprehensive sex education in public schools.
When a television interviewer asked the candidate Sunday why he supports a ban on abortion even in cases of rape, Akin replied, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
Apart from failing to identify what constitutes “legitimate rape,” Akin’s statement shows a remarkable lack of understanding about human biology. It contradicts scientific data and demonstrates the need for health education that includes frank, medically accurate information about sexuality.
A University of South Carolina study published in the Journal of American Obstetrics and Gynecology calculated a national rape-related pregnancy rate of 5 percent among women between 12 and 45 years old. Based on a three-year study involving 4,008 women, researchers estimated that more than 32,000 pregnancies result from rape each year in the United States.
“Rape-related pregnancy occurs with significant frequency,” the study’s authors concluded. “It is a cause of many unwanted pregnancies and is closely linked with family and domestic violence.” A later study by St. Lawrence University researchers yielded similar results.
Politicians frequently misinterpret data to suit their ideological needs. However, biology isn’t as open to interpretation. Akin’s statement about the female body’s ability to “shut down” the reproductive system in cases of rape defies medical evidence and ought not be dismissed as throw-away campaign rhetoric.
We suggest he enroll in a remedial class in health education, similar to those taught in public middle schools and high schools throughout Maine. Instead of conjecture based on folklore or something less scientific, Akin would receive honest information about human sexuality based on medical evidence.
That’s important, not just because political office seekers shouldn’t use false science to court voters, but because clear, factual discourse about sexuality should inform public policy. When debating laws related to, for instance, rape or abortion, voters and those who aspire to govern them can’t make judgments or apply values without a basic understanding of the physical and psychological effects of sexual assault.
Providing accurate information about the biology of reproduction represents one of the best ways to reduce sexual assault, and Akin’s attempt to categorize sexual assault into anything more than it is, a violent crime, threatens to minimize public understanding of the issue and dehumanize sexual assault survivors.
Akin’s display of ignorance about the subject reinforces the need for the type of sex education instruction that will truly break down the “culture of silence” that exists around sexual assault. Maine schools must continue to emphasize science-based sex education, including the difficult topic of assault.
The GOP is truly the Party of Ignorance and Superstition.
Whether it is climate and environmental science, evolution or reproductive biology, they prove themselves time and again to be Dark Age Flat Earthers that have utter contempt for modern science.
Not only do they gleefully put their Ignorance on public display, they loudly and proudly wallow in it.
Yessah
another gift for the democratic party. between this one, lepage, and the govs of wisconsin and new jersey, it must feel like christmas aound democrat hq
Why is everyone getting so upset about Representative Akin’s remarks? Just because his recent remarks fly in the face of any medical evidence and sound more like something you would expect to hear from someone who is living in the dark ages so what? All he is doing is parroting the tea party anti-abortion line. With the tea party facts and science don’t count. The only thing that counts is advancing their flawed ideology. The larger problem is the fact that there were 64 co-sponsors of HR 2 a bill that would have prevented abortion even in the event of rape or if the life of the mother was at stake. But Akin isn’t alone in sponsoring anti-abortion or anti-women bills. In the 112 Congress eight of these anti-abortion/women bills were also co-sponsored by the presumed Republican nominee for Vice President Paul Ryan.
Another great reason for voting for Romney/Ryan. They care about the life of the unborn. It’s too bad the libs consider an unwanted unborn baby as disposable garbage.
They care about the votes of the people who care about the unborn, not the unborn.
How much traction have they made against abortion when they are in power?
Zero, why?
Because they need the vote of that base even though they are voting against their best interests in everything else.
Do you, too, care about the unborn AND, like Romney/Ryan et al., care NOTHING for the BORN? The amazing hypocrisy of the GOP and its adherents, who constantly yammer this kind of senseless crap about reproduction and yet fight against any and all programs that help the BORN survive and thrive, makes me sick. I value human life in ALL its forms….unborn and born….and I believe we should do everything we can to take care of both. Thus I support social programs for children and pregnant women, I support educational assistance, I support contraception to prevent unwanted pregnancies so that children are not born into adverse situations, I support environmental protection to keep our world healthy for the BORN, I support medical care for ALL humans, born and unborn, and I do NOT support unjust wars and placing our BORN military members in harm’s way for purely political reasons. Most of the legislation advanced by the GOP goes in the exact opposite direction and, in my opinion, does everything it can to HARM the BORN while they spout nonsense about the unborn.
First off EJ let me say one thing. I think abortion is a terrible thing. I wish it didn’t exist. However it does. It is the law of the land. Now I will agree with you to a point. Republicans are very good at talking about how they are so concerned about the unborn. But unfortunately EJ that is about where it stops. Most reasonable people agree that the way to solve almost anything is via education. However the Republicans are totally against any type of sex education in our schools aren’t they EJ. They have cut program after program that was designed to educate young women in how to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Planned Parenthood is a program who’s primary function is to educate women in how to prevent unwanted pregnancies, yet the tea party Republicans have time and again attempted to destroy it. The other thing about the Republicans EJ is that they are great about yelling that they are all for the unborn. But EJ as soon as the child is born they immediately forget about it. The Republicans had a candidate for Vice President who was very much anti-abortion. Her idea of sex education was to tell kids not to have sex and leave it at that. That didn’t seem to work out very well for her did it EJ. You didn’t say in your response if you felt that the remarks Representative Akin made were appropriate EJ. I would be interested in hearing your opinion on his remarks.
I commented earlier that I felt that Akins needs to get out of the race altogether. He made a mistake when he said what he said, and it is the honorable thing to resign. If he doesn’t, then he’s in the same class with the last impeached President and many other politicians from all parties that refused to do the right thing and resign.
As for Planned Parenthood, their primary purpose is to abort the unborn. That’s where a major portion of their funding comes from. Of course, they do provide other services, but none come close to the money they get for aborting the unborn. Also, there are loopholes in the federal funding guidelines that allow for taxpayer money to go toward abortions. That’s the main gripe we Conservatives have against PP.
Finally, as with most of those that are against Republicans, you have been misinformed about where we stand on taking care of children. Quit listening to the left wing media and look up the bills we have proposed to take care of children. And take a look at the bills that the Senate Majority Leader, Sen. Harry Reid (D) NV is holding up that would help families, small businesses, and the poor.
EJ first off I am a Republican and have been since 1967. As far as being informed I admit I do not read all of the right wing publications but I do derive my information from varied sources including the Wall St. Journal as well as Fox News and I have subscribed to the National Review since the mid 70’s. The statistics I have seen on Planned Parenthood suggest that only 3% of what they do deals with abortion. Do you have different numbers? From Fact Check.Org:
Q: How much of Planned Parenthood’s services are dedicated to abortions? Does the federal government fund those procedures?
A: Abortions represent 3 percent of total services provided by Planned Parenthood, and roughly 10 percent of its clients received an abortion. The group does receive federal funding, but the money cannot be used for abortions by law.
Yes, I’ve seen the facts many times. But, the facts are skewed.
You see, the 3% figure comes from equating an abortion a dose of aspirin or a prenatal exam. Sorry, but there’s no way to equate the life of an unborn child to a pain reliever or pelvic check.
PP aborts over 300,000 unborn babies per year. They get paid big money for these abortions, and are allowed to channel taxpayer funding from other services into the abortion realm through loopholes in the Hyde Amendment and other legislation.
Abortion is murder: plain and simple. And I am against any abortion, no matter the circumstances of how the pregnancy happened.
“Big money”? Approx. 15% of their funding comes from abortions, hardly big money. You are opposed to abortion, a belief you’re certainly entitled to, but I think to call 15% big money is a gross exagerration, something that doesn’t add to the discussion.
EJ Akin did not make a mistake. He stated his beliefs.
But they seem NOT to care about the life of the woman who has the child. I guess it’s okay to force a woman who has been raped to carry the consequences of that rape to fruition (well, why not, she can deal with it?!) But then, I suppose, the woman is a form of “disposable garbage” – who cares about her quality of life or if she can even bring up a baby. Adoption? Are these politicians willing to adopt all the heroin babies, the crack babies, the unloved babies, the literally millions of unwanted children? I think not.
It always seems to be the men who object to abortion – well, why not? THEY don’t physically carry the baby, and many of them have nannies to bring up their own children.
Was Todd Akin speaking from experience? Had he raped someone and not gotten her pregnant? Clearly, he wasn’t speaking from a medical or scientific basis.
If a politician is anti-woman and anti-science is there any doubt as to which party he represents?
This is what the REPUBLICAN PARTY has become, and you’re surprised? They’re all spouting this crap, it’s just some aren’t as loud as others.
What scares me most is this guy is part of the science committee.
Science and the GOP are like water and oil. They don’t mix.
This is man isn’t fit for office. If you want to be ignorant, fine, but don’t present yourself as an expert. Never mind his actions, even when he opens his mouth it is dangerous.
“Rape is rape. And the idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we’re talking about doesn’t make sense to the American people and certainly doesn’t make sense to me. What I think these comments do underscore is why we shouldn’t have a bunch of politicians – the majority of whom are men – making healthcare decisions on behalf of women.”—President Barack Obama
Thanks for posting that quote. It’s a breath of rational air in the miasma of fetid Republican lies and denial of those lies.
“The Vicar of legitimate rape” is only promulgating his party’s thinking.
Amazing. You can’t make this stuff up. I wonder if in his mind that rape victims that were impregnated by their rapist really asked for it.
Yup !
It never fails to impress–or depress–me that anti-abortion fanatics like this would-be Senator invariably are equally fervent supporters of the military, including military intervention, regardless of the likely loss of life. One doesn’t have to be a pacifist to recognize the hypocrisy of those who oppose abortion altogether yet, like Rep. Ryan, want an increased military budget. This dichotomy was brought home last spring when the UMaine campus–and later, the USM campus–had several anti-abortion fanatics holding up “provocative” placards. I asked them what they thought about the military, and every one wanted more allocations for the military and more war.
Gah!!!!
I’m wondering if people realize that these folks start off at $174K per year pay, have all medical/dental benefits, vacation, and after only 5 yrs of “employment” are qualified for retirement pay. These people don’t even need a college degree to do their jobs – just have to get the popular vote.
Wonder how much of the deficit we could recoup if we made these folks liable JUST for their own health/dental insurance ? How about you folks, you work anywhere for 5 yrs and earn full retirement?
Akins made a stupid and ignorant statement and has until 5pm tomorrow to pull himself out of the race. That’s exactly what he should do. Hopefully, he won’t take the lessons from so many Dems that have messed up and refuse to resign. Of course, he could just switch parties, and he’d be instantly protected, like Anchor Joe.
Come on EJ, where’s your party loyalty? Is this any way to treat a party stalwart?
I’m not a Democrat. Akins needs to back out of the race. And I’m not loyal to a party with broken parts. The broken parts need to be removed and replaced.
Akin is not broken. He is just stating what Republicans say among themselves. As far as the Republican party is concerned his sin is not the crap he and his party believe in; his sin is announcing it on TV so everyone understands what Republicans stand for.
Welcome back. You haven’t changed at all. You’re wrong, as usual, about Republicans.
I am seldom ever wrong with discussing women’s issues with conservatives.
Akin should stay in the race so everyone can see just how sexist, vindictive and controlling the Republican beliefs are. Leaving the race and not standing behind what you believe and what you state publicly is the cowards way out.
He didn’t state what Republicans believe. He stated what he believes.
No, ET he stated a Republican party belief. The party has not asked him to retract what he said. They have asked him to step down because he has created a problem for the party not because of what he said but because of where he said it. Had he said the same thing at the Republican convention next week his statement would have been received with cheers.
Find that plank in the Republican agenda.
The 110-member platform panel, meeting today in Tampa, Fla., passed a so-called Human Life Amendment that calls for a ban on abortion, without mention of the more common exceptions for victims of rape or incest.“Faithful to the ‘self-evident’ truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed,” said platform language obtained by CNN. “We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.”from the Boston Globe
Nothing wrong with that plank.
Well, that certainly is a legitimate comb-over! Maybe his problem is that he cannot accept the truth about being bald and what can you expect from someone clearly in denial.
This is just one more sign of the GOP’s War on Women and their desire to put women back in “their”place.
Lack of education? That’s what you think the problem is? You think Ryan and Akin and the Republican party just need a little bit of education and everything will be hunky dory? All the teachers in the world working 24/7 are not going to change their attitude that women need to be controlled by laws made by men
The Republicans running today bear little resemblance to those you speak of. There are more Akins out there than most Republicans care to admit. The man running for VP of the Republican party holds the same beliefs as Akin.
I am wondering why that is a discussion, let alone a plank. The economy and debt are the issues…the Party believes Romney-Ryan has a change to beat Obama, and they think this idiotic amendment–that will never get sent to the states–will help them win?
Why not put a plank in there saying the Earth is flat?
for some reason the editors took down my comment…. maybe they should read the news and see that what I reported was factual…
First of all, this guy is a CRUMB! Just having these views is enough to disqualify him from consideration. Having said that, how can someone be this politically tone deaf and exhibit such poor judgement as to speak these wacky views publiclly? What a dummy.
The conservatives of Missouri know and like his beliefs. They have elected him to the House of Representatives at least 3 times.
What difference does it make who commits the rape. You go on to say that a husband probably won’t kill you but statistics tell a very different story. The majority of murders in this country are committed by either relatives of the victim or someone that they knew. We don’t need new words. What we need are enlightened people who will stand up against this dastardly crime and not those who use it as a means of garnering votes.
The bills are to protect the unborn baby. Of course, in the eyes of the liberals, the unborn baby is disposable. But, disturb an eagle’s egg, and you’ll be on your way to jail.
I will stand for the unborn. The woman already made a choice.
And there you have it folks: the Republican party platform, to he11 with women.
Tell that the increasing number of women that are joining the Republican party, running for office as Republicans, or are members of the Tea Party. They just might disagree with you.
I understand the difference.
He didn’t state what Republicans believe. He stated what he believes.
No you do not. Read the Republican platform plank. It says Amendment to ban abortion with no exception for rape. This is exactly the opinion Akin was expressing. And he and Ryan have worked together to create legislation that mirrors this platform.
There is no reason for having an abortion. All life is precious and God has a plan for all of His creations.
Don’t drag your god into this. The issue is whether Akin was stating the Republican position and he was. If you think he was only talking about what he believes your haven’t read your party’s platform plank on the subject.
What planet does this guy come from? Must be the same one that Newt Gingrich came from – “women couldn’t serve in the military because once a month they get ‘sick'”. Who ARE these people?! More importantly, why does anyone give them credence? Says a whole lot about a good 25% of the US citizenry that support these ignoramuses. Gives me the creeps – because we walk, play, and live among those 25%.