What Todd Akin Should Have Said About Abortion and Rape

The Gospel Coalition ^ | 08/25/2012 | Trevin Wax

[SeekAndFind]

Abortion is front-and-center in the presidential campaign due to a congressman's flub on national TV.

In case you've missed the news, Todd Akin, a Republican congressman from Missouri running for the Senate, was asked about abortion in the case of rape. His response:

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

Needless to say, such remarks proved offensive. Akin appeared to be making distinctions between violent rape and other forms (statutory perhaps?) as he sought to answer the question about abortion. Other Republicans are calling for him to pull out of the race while the Romney-Ryan campaign quickly tried to distance itself from the remarks.

Rape is a horrific crime with countless emotional and psychological repercussions. No one should ever speak of such an atrocity without having their heart gripped with sympathy for the victim. Any time we speak about such an unspeakable act of violation, we ought to consider the weight of our words.

Even so, as disturbing as Akin's remarks are, I am concerned about the conflation of issues that suddenly appeared in the aftermath. Once the comment went viral, Republicans all over the country began distancing themselves from the remarks (rightly so) while also claiming to be pro-life except in the case of rape. (Romney is an example.)

The media circus moved quickly from discussion of Akin’s remarks to a wider discussion about the legitimacy of abortion in a tough case. And some “pro-life” politicians took the bait, not only condemning Akin’s unfortunate remarks but also declaring their support for abortion in this particular case.

Let me be clear: Allowing abortion in the case of rape is not the way to express sympathy toward a victim of this crime. Abortion only destroys the life of another victim.

That’s why I wish the conversation with Akin had gone more like this…

Host: So you also believe abortion ought to be outlawed in the case of rape?

Akin: Rape is a horrible crime, and a rapist ought to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I stand for human rights over against anyone who would violate the life of another – from the rapist to the abortionist.

Host: So you’d outlaw abortion in the case of rape?

Akin: Absolutely. As I said, I stand for human rights for all, including the unborn.

Host: But why should a woman who gets pregnant out of no fault of her own be forced to carry a pregnancy to term?

Akin: It is a tragic situation indeed. And my heart goes out to any woman in such circumstances. That’s why I could never recommend that she abort her child. Inflicting violence upon another innocent victim, in this case the baby, is not the way to move past the tragedy of her own innocence being taken.

Host: So you’d pass laws that would force her to carry on the pregnancy?

Akin: Like I said, I stand for the rights of all human beings. Even in a difficult situation like rape, the unborn child should have human rights. We must not let circumstances dictate to us when humans have rights. Otherwise, we could justify all sorts of atrocities in the name of “difficult circumstances.”

Host: But having a child as a result of rape would be a terrible reminder of the crime, wouldn’t it?

Akin: That’s possible. But let me ask you another question. If a woman chose to carry her child to term and then found that every time she looked at her infant she remembered the horror of the rape, would we allow her to smother the baby?

Host: Of course not!

Akin: You’re right. Because no matter how difficult her circumstances, we recognize the humanity of the infant. Unfortunately, many in our society refuse to recognize the humanity of the unborn.

Host: But your opinion on the humanity of the unborn shouldn’t be forced upon a woman who doesn’t hold that view.

Akin: Biology textbooks and scientists tell us the same thing we see when we look at a 4-D ultrasound: the fetus is human. Now, you can make the case that the unborn human should not have rights. And many do. That’s why unborn girls are aborted at a much higher rate than unborn boys, not only in places like China but in the United States as well. That’s why the number of children with Down Syndrome has plummeted. That’s why so many abortion clinics target inner-city areas with high minority populations. You see, once we begin to discriminate against some human beings, we are on the fast track to denying human rights for others.

Host: So you stand by your conviction that abortion should be outlawed even in the case of rape?

Akin: I believe that all innocent human life should be protected. So, yes. This difficult situation is about three people: the rapist, the mother, and the baby. Currently, there is no death penalty required for the rapist. I refuse to believe we ought to give an innocent victim a sentence more severe than the perpetrator of the crime.

[SeekAndFind]

The only open question that was not answered by this article is this —

“Are you going to force the woman to take carea nd raise the baby she was FORCED to have?”

If not, how do you propose to solve this problem?

[dps.inspect]

If only he had a do-over... HE DOESN”T, GET USED TO DISAPPOINTMENT...He’s a donkey’s ass, and there ain’t no changing it...

[stuartcr]

Especially if she doesn’t have or make enough money to support the child.

[Dallas59]

Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve.....it doesn’t matter. He swallowed his foot on this one.

[DrewsMum]

Easy. No. There’s always Adoption.

[zeugma]

I'm not sure exactly how biologically ignorant the Senator actually is. He might not be aware of the details, but perhaps his notions should be given a bit more credance.

Here are two articles posted to FR recently.

Stress signal causes abnormal implantation location and pregnancy loss

 and

Stress Puts Double Whammy On Reproductive System, Fertility

 

Now, unless one is willing to say that rape is not stressful, then perhaps the body does have a natural defence against it.

While I don't particularly care about the senator in question because I don't know anything about him to speak of, I might just start spamming this information to relevant threads. He may will be an idiot, but he could be right as well.

[Mrs. Don-o]

There are literally thousands of married couples in the United States who would adopt a baby who was conceived by in an assault situation, My husband and I knew a grad student at Vanderbilt who was pregnant from rape who had muliple offers for adoption. (Add yes, she had the baby. She and a strong sense of justice and did not believe in victimizing her own innocen child.)

[Cicero]

No, there is nothing wrong with adoption, if the mother feels that keeping the baby would remind her of the rape.

Not only that, but there are tons of people looking for babies to adopt, and they are scarce in these days of frequent abortions.

[Derp Mountain]

He should have said... if you were such a slut in the first place, should have been on birth control anyway.

Go to Massachusets and get on welfare.

Otherwise, get ready for the reckoning day when real conservatives get elected.

[SeminoleCounty]

So...lets bring in the Third Place candidate in the primary...and run her as a Third Party? That way Akin’s detractors can really help out McCaskill

[SeekAndFind]

RE: He should have said... if you were such a slut in the first place, should have been on birth control anyway.

Go to Massachusets and get on welfare.

__________________

If he had said that, I would be absolutely certain he is a DEMOCRAT PLANT. A fifth column.

[stuartcr]

Then why are there any orphans now?

[Mrs. Don-o]

There are literally thousands of married couples in the United States who would adopt a baby who was conceived by in an assault situation, My husband and I knew a grad student at Vanderbilt who was pregnant from rape who had muliple offers for adoption. (Add yes, she had the baby. She and a strong sense of justice and did not believe in victimizing her own innocent child.)

[allmendream]

Even with constant stress the majority did not miscarry. 30000 pregnancies a year result from rape and half are aborted, accounting for one percent of abortions. Eleven percent miscarry.

But go ahead and pretend they don’t exist or try telling the victims that their rape wasn’t really THAT stressful if you think doing so serves some purpose.

[dps.inspect]

is this about defeating McCaskill... o geez, i thought this was about somone who once had a chance of doing just that but blew it and is now running 10 points behind... you think it’s my fault or something? If jackass stays in or if he leaves we are likely to loose to McCaskill... you want to instill hope? talk your boy into leaving tomorrow...

[bray]

This is a discussion we need to have. You can’t be a fiscal conservative and pro-choice. Social costs will destroy the budget.

Pray for America

[pistolpackinpapa]

What Todd Akin should have said was: “I better not answer that; I’m an ignorant mother effer and I don’t have enough sense to answer that question intelligently and I will cause the GOP to lose the MO Senate seat and hurt my party and this nation. So, don’t effin’ ask me, dude.”

[hecht]

and stress cause obesity and acne.
so if you want to see a rape victim , find a fat lady with zits and no kids.
Also because of stress and only fake orgasms, hookers don’t get pregnant.

[Mrs. Don-o]

As I understand it, the big majority in foster care or institutional care are children whose parents are living and whose parental rights have not been terminated. These children are not available for adoption.

For those who are available for adoption, most of them are in the hard-to-place category, That means that they may be

• Older than toddler;
• physically or mentally handicapped
• members of sibling groups who would have to be adopted as a group
• victims of abuse who have emotional or psychiatric issues, e.g. drug addicted.

Newborn infants of any race, color or nationality (and almost any condition) are very readily adoptable. It's much harder to find permanent adoptive homes for older kids with multiple issues, especially behavior/emotional problems or juvenile criminal records.