Posted on 08/22/2012 3:20:19 PM PDT by shhrubbery!
First, I'm a woman. (Seems to be an important qualification if one is to be allowed to have an opinion on "womens' bodies.")
I'm used to being attacked by the harridans of the Left, who claim that if you're a pro-life, then you're NOT A WOMAN.
But I'm not used to hearing conservatives knee-jerk to the idea that something is "idiotic" just because it's politically incorrect ... according to those same rabid harridans of the Left.
I think, like Akin did, that a woman's endocrine system CAN sometimes "shut down" the process of conception, or implantation, as a result of traumatic stress suffered by the woman.
It so happens there are respected physicians who believe this is possible too: Dr. John C. WIlkie, MD, OB/GYN. And there is some research that tends to back this up (see references at bottom of this page.
We may never have a 100% dispositive study that proves that pregnancy as a result of rape is rare. Real numbers are hard to come by. And sadly, any researcher who attempts an objective study is going to be excoriated like Mark Regnerus (who studied homosexual parenting) or Jay Belsky (who studied the effects of putting children in day care).
But many women know, intuitively, that what Akin said is not "imbecilic." Many women have experience with their endocrine systems going awry, due to stress. I myself have carried four pregnancies to term, but lost one, probably due to stress that caused an endocrine malfunction.
** "Ain't I a woman" is a quote from Sojourner Truth, a strong Christian black woman. She wasn't going to stand for her opinion being shut down because she was (a) a woman and (b) voicing ideas that weren't popular in some circles. And neither am I.
I should have said, sex between equals should not be considered statutory rape. Statutory rape should address the predatory behaviour of adults regarding youths.
LOL. I was just going to compliment you on the “slimebag” term. I would walk on my lips now before doing so. hahahahahahaha....you did good, girl. I am a bad influence. I will stop. You are too good.
Thousands of links on the web from Fox, CNN, NBC, ABC, etc etc. However, I’ll link you to my favorite source instead.
He can still say that. And he should say that.
He never said she couldn't. So who's the dumb one now? You're the one sitting here saying something that isn't true.
The pro-life doctor and former head of the National Right to Life Committee is the one who first stated exactly what Akin said about pregnancy from rape, supposedly in a 1985 book and in a 1999 article that's posted here on FR.
Extreme emotional stress, as well as frequent vigorous exercise, will cause a woman to miss periods.
When I went through Navy boot camp many years ago, almost everyone in my company of 80 recruits stopped menstruating during the 8.5 weeks of boot camp. Boot camp was very stressful.
Exactly.
The toll he has taken on the pro-Life movement is immeasurable.
I’m sure all the women who were raped and became pregnant and DID NOT ABORT are feeling the sharp slap of that comment too.
He got it from the doctor mentioned in the post you're replying to. The doctor expounded on his opinion in this article in 1999:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2921696/posts
People should not be close-minded to new scientific theories. Akin never stated he knew this idea to be a fact, merely that it was what he had understood from articles he had read.
a) A woman's reproductive system is not affected by stress.
or
b) Rape is not stressful.
I had preeclampsia all through both of my pregnancies. You seem to be saying I am a slut. (BTW, I only slept with my husband, the father of my children.)
I wasn’t offended bu this guy. I was DUMBFOUNDED.
If I believe what he does and I’m running for the US Senate, I’d better damn well be grounded THOROUGHLY in my thinking and be able to express it clearly using my PRINCIPLES and not some hocus-pocus crap about the magical reject-a-sperm knowledge hiding in my body.
The longer this man talked on Hannity the more enraged I became..until eventually I felt just pity and wished someone would get him some help- he’s delusional.
But that doesn’t address the damage he’s done SINGLEHANDEDLY to the pro-life cause. People here who are sticking up for him sometimes forget that our job is to persuade pro-choice or neutral people to see pro-life views in new ways. People at FR don’t need convincing. Certainly people who are on the fence are NOT going to be convinced by browbeating or self-righteous holier-than-thou attitudes.
I don’t pretend to know what’s going on in this man’s mind- but his advisers have done him and our country a great disservice and should be ashamed of themselves. We are on the BRINK of losing our country and what matters to him is his damned PRIDE.
I agree and I’m female. Plenty of men are jumping on the wagon too though unfortunately. By the way, DS takes the left’s position on this site WAYYYY too often for my liking.
Not true.
I don’t believe abortion is the appropriate response to a rape induced pregnancy (I think it just adds an additional victim) but I still think what Akin said is extremely offensive and factually WRONG.
His statement implies that a woman who is pregnant from rape but whose body does not spontaneously abort (miscarry) wasn’t “legitimately” raped. That’s just whacked.
Oh beans! I know of a man running for Senator who was stupid and killed a woman, and he won the election. Your point again?
Agreed.
Even that article doesn't quote Paul Ryan. This is what it says:
Paul Ryan telephoned his House of Representatives colleague Todd Akin to urge him to drop out of the Missouri US Senate race only to be rebuffed by his anti-abortion ally.
Sorry, without a direct quote, that doesn't cut it.
If you have "thousands" of articles that actually quote Ryan "urging" Akin to drop out, please post a link. Just one will do. If it's a reputable source.
Because if you don't, then what am I supposed to believe? The Daily Mail? Or my own lying ears?
My point?
We don’t need any more stupid people in Congress.
We already have a quorum of them at least.
Think about that for a damned minute. Every species on the planet is designed to endure stress and prosper. If all it took was stress to prevent pregnancy then civilization would have died out a dozen times in recorded history alone. One of the greatest stresses there is physically is lack of food. Yet women in Ethiopia kept on managing to get pregnant.
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