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."
- Rep. Todd Akin
“Most people realize that AIDS came from the homosexual community — it was one guy screwing a monkey, if I recall correctly, and then having sex with men. It was an airline pilot, if I recall.”
“My understanding is that it is virtually — not completely, but virtually — impossible to contract AIDS through heterosexual sex…very rarely [transmitted].”
-Ten. state Sen. Stacey Campfield
| Who could hunt this guy? |
-former Rep. (and former presidential candidate) Newt Gingrich
If combat means living in a ditch, females have biological problems staying in a ditch for thirty days because they get infections and they don't have upper body strength. I mean, some do, but they're relatively rare. On the other hand, men are basically little piglets, you drop them in the ditch, they roll around in it, doesn't matter, you know. These things are very real. On the other hand, if combat means being on an Aegis-class cruiser managing the computer controls for twelve ships and their rockets, a female may be again dramatically better than a male who gets very, very frustrated sitting in a chair all the time because males are biologically driven to go out and hunt giraffes.
Perhaps there really is no "war on women." Perhaps instead there is just enormous, massive ignorance on the part of those who we have elected to represent the interests of the population, and they have no idea of how 50% of the population even works, mechanically. Even the bare bone basics, like menstruation, fertilization, and STD transmission seems to be beyond the grasps of these individuals.
Rep. Todd Akin, star of the first quote, has apologized for his "legitimate rape" (what in the world is illegitimate rape?) comments, and stated that he "misspoke." But it doesn't seem to be a misstatement. His mistake seems to rest in saying out loud something that he genuinely believes to be true, and here's the scary thing; this individual was leading Claire McCaskill by 8 points in their race for Senate before he managed to put his foot in his mouth. He may eke out a win even still. Akin is also a member of the Science Committee in the House. In his role as a Representative, he has fashioned a "no true Scotsman" litmus test for rape and pregnancy. If you are raped, and don't get pregnant, you might have a shot of having a "legitimate rape." Luckily for you, you don't need an abortion. If, on the other hand, you were raped and got pregnant, you weren't raped, you were apparently just "raped", and unworthy of any further help, and you don't deserve to have an abortion. Problem solved! FWIW, according to an article in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, "among adult women an estimated 32,101 pregnancies result from rape each year." However, among a certain subset of politicians, the idea that women who are raped can't get pregnant seems to be accepted wisdom.
It really, really reminds me of the Holy Grail scene with the witch - http://youtu.be/zrzMhU_4m-g
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job exposing the issue, as per usual, Mand. I had way too much rage to be effective... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92IkddsjtAA
“Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin’s statement,” the Romney campaign said in statement. “A Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape.” You know, semantics matter here. It's not that you "disagree." It's that he was factually WRONG. Also, the rape, incest, and life of the mother exceptions tend to be linked, so the exception here in just saying "rape" without the other two is, I believe, telling. In fact, Ryan has sponsored bills to limit the rape exception to "forcible rape" (which A. is a legally important distinction, but B. what rape is truly non-forcible rape?) and he has cosponsored the personhood bill. Also, if Romney does not support personhood anymore, he needs to say that. Up until he does that, he cannot legitimately say that his administration would not oppose abortion in any situation.
ReplyDeleteStatutory rape is non-forcible rape.
ReplyDeleteGood point, Joe. But in many cases it's used as a way to prosecute forcible rape of underage victims.
ReplyDeleteNon-forcible rape is jus so much pablum. It has no real meaning. If they want to exclude statutory rape from their list of exceptions, why not just say so?
ReplyDeleteIf an underage victim was actually forcibly raped, why wouldn't the perpetrator be prosecuted under the "normal" rape statute? If the problem is a lack of good evidence regarding consent, can we assume that the rape was "forcible"?
ReplyDeleteI think what Akin and his ilk are trying to short-hand by saying "legitimate" is that there are some people who believe that date-rape and marital-rape are not rape. Then there is this other strain of conservatives that believe that women will pretend that they were raped in order to get an abortion. There was a state politician in Indiana, who said that recently as a justification for getting rid of the rape and incest exceptions to an anti-abortion law. http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/03/indiana-goper-women-might-pretend-to-be-raped-to-get-around-abortion-laws.php
ReplyDeleteAnd btw, I don't believe he really meant forcible, from the tape it sounds like Huckabee is feeding that to him.
ReplyDeleteBecause it's easier to prove statutory rape.
ReplyDeleteI realize that this is a very sensitive topic, so I don't mean to insensitive, but women falsely accusing men of rape, for whatever reason, is a very real phenomenon. This does not mean that we should presume any accusation is false, or that false accusations outnumber true accusations. I have no idea if this is the distinction Akin was trying to make, and even if it was, his other comments were unbelievably stupid and wrong. Undoubtedly there are also some people who believe that date-rape and marital-rape are not rape. But there are instances where women will claim to have been raped and it's simply not true.
ReplyDeleteIt is a very real phenomenon, but it is also very rare. Last time I looked at this issue, as a law student and research adviser, according to FBI crime stats the percentage of false claims of rape was roughly the same as the percentage of false claims of other crimes.
DeleteIf an underage victim was actually forcibly raped, why wouldn't the perpetrator be prosecuted under the "normal" rape statute? If the problem is a lack of good evidence regarding consent, can we assume that the rape was "forcible"?
ReplyDeleteSometimes the prosecuter and/or family are unwilling to put the victim through a full blown trial. Statutory rape is a lot easier to prove, and thus, many criminals are more willing to plead to that crime.
But there are instances where women will claim to have been raped and it's simply not true.
ReplyDeleteOf course. That's true for any crime. Yet you rarely see instances of people talking about "legitimate" assault, (except, ahem, in the cases of domestic violence), or "legitimate" robbery. Perhaps people who are legitimately assaulted by being punched in the face have natural defenses against having their nose being broken. Those others, who end up with a broken nose, they were obviously asking for it.
Huh? I am unaware of people who consensually get punched in the face, but then turn around and claim assault. Robbery is maybe a little closer but I still have never heard of someone claim they were "robbed," for example, when they gave somebody something as a gift.
DeleteMaybe they were boxing, and changed their mind in the middle. Maybe they gambled their money away, and now want an acceptable cover story. Perhaps they wrecked their car, but want to claim it was stolen. The fact is, people do lie about crimes. The FBI reports about 8% of rape accusations are unfounded (compared to 10% of stolen car reports). Even more, much more, rapes are never reported to the police at all. And suspicions that they were "asking for it", r not "legitimate" rape victims are a huge reason why so many rapes go unreported.
DeleteMaybe they were boxing and changed their mind in the middle? LOL. Yes people do lie about things like stolen cars and property, and in doing so, commit a crime themselves, whether insurance fraud or false reporting of a crime. And in the context of distinguishing between those people and people who actually do get their stuff stolen, I don't have a problem with referring to the latter group as "legitimate" robbery victims. The stupidity of Akin's remarks lies in the content not in the suggestion that there are "legitimate" rape accusations and false rape accusations.
DeleteThat was entirely tongue-in-cheek, though I have known people to start a fight, and then turn around and claim they were the victim.
DeleteThe stupidity of Akin's comments was not just in the content, but also his terminology that there are "legitimate" rape victims, and presumably "illegitimate" rape victims. A rape victim is a rape victim. A false accuser is not a rape victim at all, and thus not within the scope of his terms. He clearly seems to be trying to distinguish "stranger hiding in the bushes rape" (legitimate in his mind) from all the other rapes which occur (illegitmate rapes according to him). You are magically protected from pregnancy with the "legitimate rape", while all the other rapes you are obviously a slut who had it coming, as evidenced by your pregnancy.
Well he said "legitimate rape" not "legitimate rape victim." You think his use of the word "legitimate" implies he thinks date rape, marital rape, and too provocatively dressed rape are "illegitimate." I think he probably meant that statutory rape and cases where the sex was consensual but the woman falsely accuses her partner of rape would not be "legitimate" cases of rape for the purposes of having a rape exception to a prohibition on abortion. Nobody knows what he actually meant. In any case, as I said, even if you mean the latter, the rest of his comments were incredibly stupid.
DeleteHe said "legitimate rape" not "legitimate rape victim." You think he meant to exclude date rape, marital rape, and "had it coming" rape from the definition of "legitimate rape." I think it's just as likely he meant to exclude only statutory rape and instances where the sex is consensual but the woman later claims rape for whatever reason. Nobody knows what he meant except him.
DeleteSorry Joe, just fished these out of the spam folder.
DeleteAbsolutely there are some people who falsely claim rape. But to suggest that women would fake a rape to get an abortion is pretty insulting to most women. As is the ultrasound bill. These bills and attitudes treat women like we are stupid at best, and incompetent or even evil at worst. Akin is factually wrong, but he also underscores one of the many reasons why we have to trust women to make their own decisions. It is simply unthinkable that a guy this obtuse would get to decide for women who have been raped how they must proceed with their lives and bodies. It's a second, governmental invasion on a deeply private matter.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what it means to "fake a rape." I think the situation these people are describing is when a woman has consensual sex and then claims afterward that she was raped in order to get an abortion. I don't think the suggestion is that "most women" or "all women" would do this. If you agree that there are some women who falsely claim rape, why would they do so? It's fine to say generally that some women "fake a rape" but to suggest that some might do so in order to get an abortion is "insulting?"
DeleteThe "fake a rape" wasn't special language, it was another way of saying lie about a rape. Maybe I didn't explain it well. To suggest that it happens - that some people falsely claim rape at all is one thing, but to suggest that because someone might be so desperate that they would pretend that they had been raped as a reason to not have an exception for rape victims? That's entirely different. Because if you are suggesting that there should be an exception for rape victims, but that the need for that exception would be negated by somebody being desperate enough to pretend they had been raped, then what, either you think all rape victims getting an abortion are lying, or you think that the people who would lie are a reason to not have an exception for rape victims. Which either way is bad for rape victims.
DeleteOh yeah, I'm not saying the fact that some women might falsely claim rape in order to get an abortion means you shouldn't have a rape exception. I just don't think saying some women might do so is insulting to all women.
DeleteLooks like I missed out on all the fun. When I heard about Akin's comments my first thought was "please don't be about abortion, please don't be about abortion." Because, you, Mr. Akin, are NOT HELPING.
ReplyDeleteIt's true. And I think you are joined by many, many pro-lifers. But I think it's a reaction to the conundrum of the rape exception for those who believe life begins at conception (see Mandi's update post today) - ie if a woman is raped, how can the state force her to bear the child. And the only person I've heard give the real response is Santorum. The Akin comment was in line with a widely-cited theory that is factually stupid but born out of a desire to have it both ways: boom, women are magic and can magically repel evil sperm. So if the sperm is successful, it by definition isn't evil. Stupid, factually inaccurate, but serving a rhetorical, "moral" purpose.
ReplyDelete