Akin to Stay in the Race

Repost of the Week

By Camille Wanliss Ortiz

Repost of the week: “Just Think No” in The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/opinion/dowd-just-think-no.html

Despite criticism from both sides of the aisle, Rep. Todd Akin has no plans o step away from the Missouri Senate race against Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill on the heels of his scandalous remarks on rape and abortion rights. The deadline to remove his name from the ballot passed Tuesday evening. Republicans know that as long as he stays in the race, the controversy will be sure to dog him and the presidential election until November.

Maureen Dowd’s Op-Ed in The New York Times brings up a valid point about Akin not having to leave the race for what he believes in. What he said was not a gaffe. It is the Republican Party platform. Just ask Iowa Rep. Steve King or Mike Huckabee, who have no problem with Akin’s stance.

In several interviews since his remarks, it is interesting that no one has taken Akin to task on what exactly it is that he meant. Akin has only offered veiled apologies in the guise of misspeaking on the topic. But the nation needs the following questions answered:

1. What is “legitimate rape”? Last year Akin, along with Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, sponsored legislation that would redefine rape in order to limit federal funding to these victims. Maybe this is a synonym for the “forcible rape” term he coined.
2. What doctors has he been speaking to? What sources can he cite that back up his claims that pregnancies resulting from rape are rare? A 1996 study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that over 32,000 pregnancies result from rape each year. But I guess to Mr. Akin that’s not so much. The irony is that Akin is on the House Science Committee but can’t seem to grasp the concept of basic biology.
3. How does a woman’s body have a way to “shut the whole thing down?” Do vaginas come equipped with escape hatches? Are there panic rooms specifically for fallopian tubes? I don’t even.

If Akin were just a lone wolf, it would be easy to write him off. But he is part of the Republican Party pack. It’s indicative of our failure as a nation to have allowed ideology to supersede reality. We have given these intellectually inept extremists, who are so myopic in their views on gender and morality, a platform to spew pseudo-science to the masses, to redefine rape to fit their agenda, to champion less government except in the case of women’s rights.

So what can you do about it? You can start by signing this petition to have Akin removed from the House Science Committee. And if you live in Missouri, send this dude a clear message come November 6^th.