Achin' to Take Back Those Words
Missouri Representative Akin "Misspoke" about Rape in America

(St. Louis, MO) — Representative Todd Akin (R-MO), whose Web site has the banner "Timeless Principles for Today's Challenges" splayed across the top of its homepage, "misspoke" in an interview aired on August 19. The senatorial candidate claimed that pregnancies resulting from rapes are "really rare" and then went on to cite medical reasons for this phenomenon. One problem: the medical reasons he cited are pure fiction.

"First of all, from what I understand from doctors, (pregnancy from rape) is really rare," said Akin, admitted an Akin spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity. "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

Research from the Medical University of South Carolina in 1996 concluded that "rape-related pregnancy occurs with significant frequency" and suggested that over 30,000 pregnancies result from rape annually. [Holmes MM, Resnick HS, Kilpatrick DG, Best CL. Rape-related pregnancy: estimates and descriptive characteristics from a national sample of women. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1996 Aug;175(2):320-4; discussion 324-5. Available from: PubMed].

His faux pas was made worse when, instead of apologizing, he simply said that he "misspoke" during the interview.

Akin is not the first (and likely won't be the last) politician to make this kind of statement on the record. Legislators looking to block all abortions tend to make such remarks.

Incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Akin's opponent, was reportedly doing somersaults upon hearing his comments, according to a McCaskill spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity. The latest polls had shown McCaskill trailing Akin.

Other Republicans, many of whom are locked in tight races with their opponents, distanced themselves from Akin as the day wore on, some of whom asked him to withdraw from the race altogether.

Former senator George Allen Macacavitz, trying to reclaim his old Senate seat, provided a tersely-worded admonishment on Akin's comments. Allen may have not have much of a leg to stand on in this case. In 2006, running for re-election, he referred to one of his opponent's campaign staff as "macaca" – on video. The video subsequently went viral, and Allen never fully recovered from his "Macaca Moment," losing the election to outgoing Senator Jim Webb (D-VA). Also, during the campaign, Allen discovered Jewish roots in his family and changed his name accordingly.

Even Governor Bob McDonnell (R-VA) came out to admonish Akin, a surprise since earlier this year McDonnell was on the verge of signing legislation that would have forced women in Virginia seeking abortions to have transvaginal ultrasounds before undergoing the procedure. Subjected to ridicule, ranging from pro-abortion demonstrators to Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" fame, and concerned at the time that such legislation might hurt his chances in the 2012 Veepstakes, the legislation was eventually watered down, eliminating the invasive procedure.

Women's groups, such as the National Organization for Women (NOW), were infuriated by the "legitimate rape" comment.

"So he's saying that there's a difference between 'legitimate rape' and 'illegitimate rape' in America?" asked a NOW spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Is he really saying that some women elicit invitations to be raped? Or, if you want to broaden the context, is he saying that [former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry] Sandusky conducted 'illegitimate' rape on those boys? Is this guy nuts, or is he so misinformed that he still believes in Santa Claus? Or does he just not know what century he's living in?"

Democrats were also quick to pounce, tying Akin to the Republican establishment, especially presidential candidate Mitt Romney and vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan.

"Akin's blatant lies and falsehoods should not be tolerated," said a Democratic strategist, speaking on condition of anonymity. "His comments are akin to (the late Senator) Ted Stevens' (R-AK) assertion that the Internet is 'a series of tubes.' And they're akin to the private school in Louisiana that uses a textbook saying that the Loch Ness Monster is real – and is, in fact, a dinosaur."

"Republicans are clearly desperate and are making up content as they go along," said a spokesman for Democratic National Committee (DNC), speaking on condition of anonymity. "When [Representative] Joe Wilson (R-SC) yelled, 'You lie!' at President Obama while addressing a joint session of Congress [in 2009], he should have yelled it at the members of his own party."

Meanwhile, delegates attending the Republican National Convention, set to take place in Tampa next week, have begun discussing the party's platform and have circulated a draft endorsing a constitutional amendment banning abortion.