Warriors In The Republican War On Women

Todd Akin, member of the United States House of Representatives. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 Todd Akin (R-Mo)

"First of all, from what I understand from doctors, [pregnancy from rape] is really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

 “Let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work, or something, I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.”

 Meet Todd Akins, (R-Mo) a stalwart warrior in the front lines of the Republican War on Women.  Mr. Akins' is running for Senate in Missouri against Senator Claire McCaskill.

 Some apologists have suggested that Mr. Akin, who is on the house science committee, misspoke.  You wouldn't think that Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo) misspoke if you were familiar with his voting record.  Mr. Akin and the republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan both co-sponsored HR-3 No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.

"if the pregnancy occurred because the pregnant female was the subject of an act of forcible rape or, if a minor, an act of incest;"

The bill attempted to redefine rape to "forcible rape".  The language was taken out of later bills, but Todd Akin and Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan both co-signed the version with the offensive language.  The republicans want to criminalize abortion and both Rep. Todd Akin and Vice-Presidential candidate Paul Ryan signed on as co-sponsors of the national personhood bill:  HR 212, "The Sanctity of Human Life Act".  The bill declared a fertilized egg was a person, with all the rights of a person. Thus, it's not surprising that Rep. Akin would confuse a fetus with a child--it's what he believes, along with "legitimate" rape.

It's bad enough that old white republican men are writing laws that constrain what women can or cannot do with their bodies, its inconceivable that those legislating old white men are as clueless and uninformed as 12 year old boys.
 
Planned Parenthood Action has a letter to Rep. Akin you can read and sign here