NO ISOLATED INCIDENTS

Rep Todd Akin (R - MO)

Asked why he doesn’t support abortion in most cases of rape, he responded, "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. But let's assume maybe that didn't work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist."

Richard Murdock (Candidate for Senate - R- IN)

During last night’s Indiana Senate debate, Republican candidate Richard Mourdock went too far when he said, “…even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”

Rep Joe Walsh (R - IL)

Abortion bans don’t need exceptions for the life of the mother because of “modern technology and science,” Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) said Thursday.

“With modern technology and science, you can’t find one instance” of an abortion necessary to save the life of the mother, Walsh said after a debate with Tammy Duckworth, his Democratic opponent....  “… There is no such exception as life of the mother, and as far as health of the mother, same thing.”

Add Paul Ryan's personhood bill to amend the US Constitution: "To provide that human life shall be deemed to begin with fertilization.",  Romney's all-over-the-map-but-he's-against-abortion statements, and anti-women shenanigans and misstatements of biology I have left out, and what you have are not isolated incidents but proposed policies that are part and parcel of the Republican Party.  If you don't believe me, look at their platform, pages 13 and 14.  Republicans, all of you, you own these men and the anti-women policies.  They're yours.  

TODD AKIN PUTS FOOT IN MOUTH AGAIN

“She goes to Washington, D.C., it’s a little bit like one of those dogs, you know ‘fetch.’ She goes to Washington, D.C., and get all of these taxes and red tape and bureaucracy and executive orders and agencies and she brings all of this stuff and dumps it on us in Missouri.”

All right, Claire McCaskill is a Blue Dog Democrat, but Akin takes the analogy way too far.  How can anyone vote for this man?

In case you've forgotten, Akin is the guy who said women do not become pregnant from "legitimate rape".

A LETTER FOR YOU, REP TODD AKIN

Dear Rep. Akin,

My name is Shauna Prewitt. You do not know me, but you should. I am one of the approximately 25,000 women who every year become pregnant as a result of rape, and I would like to help you better “empathize” with my story.

During my final year of college, I experienced an event that was so absolute in its effects that, since it occurred, it has figured as the point of reference from which all understandings and meanings of my life now stem: I was raped.

I do not know if, in your terms, it was “legitimate rape.” Yes, I cried hysterically. Yes, I fought until my body ached. And, yes, I changed afterward in ways I could not ever imagine.

As I read Shauna's letter, my anger at Akin and his ilk grew and grew with each word, each paragraph.  I have to wonder if those men (and probably a few women out there, too) believe that women who are raped are real human beings.  Rep Todd Akin, how dare you?  How can you speak, how can you think so heartlessly, so soullessly?  Have you no shame?  I suppose not.  You should resign...NOW.

UPDATE: One of my Facebook friends thought it might be best if Akin hangs in as a Representative and as a candidate for the Senate, and he may just be right.  Drip, drip, drip...  

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Is "legitimate rape" an oxymoron?

Rep Todd Akin:

"It seems to me first of all, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare," Akin said. "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down," Akin said of a rape victim's chances of becoming pregnant.

I don't need to ask if Akin's statement is other than ignorant garbage.  I'd like to know the names of the doctors who spew the garbage. Actually, my question of the day is, as some of you may have already suspected, rhetorical.