Good New for Rape Victims

One of the sub-issues floating around the country during this presidential and congressional election campaign is the issue of abortion.  The Republican position on that issue is simple; Abortions should be illegal.  Women who become pregnant should not be allowed to make the decision about what to do with their lives if the pregnancy is unplanned, if the child will be raised in poverty, if the mother’s health (emotional and physical) is jeopardized, or if the pregnancy occurs under circumstances which will forever compromise the ability of the woman to live a fruitful life.  Darling of the Tea Party Rick Santorum (You remember him.  He is the one whose wife lived, unmarried, with an abortion provider twenty five years her senior for fifteen years and underwent an abortion to “save her life.”) offered his solution to these women during his presidential run.  “Suck it up.  Make the best of a bad thing.  Life goes on.”  The Republican frenzy surrounding this issue (Remember that the controlling Republican party is a bunch of tight-assed older white men in dark business suits) made it imperative for the Michigan legislature to prevent a woman Democrat legislator from speaking on an important issue because she used the word “vagina” on the floor of the House. (My God, what is this world coming to?  Next thing on the list for women like this is to probably ask for equal pay.)

But there is good news for all you women who have been raped, or will be raped.  The good news comes from another rank and file Republican running for U.S. Senate in Missouri.  (I will leave it to the reader to determine the meaning of the word ‘rank’ in the context of this writing at the end of this piece.)   As the New York Times reported today (August 20, 2012), “In an effort to explain his stance on abortion, Representative Todd Akin, the Republican Senate nominee from Missouri . . . [said] that in instances of what he called “legitimate rape,” women’s bodies somehow blocked an unwanted pregnancy.

Asked in an interview on a St. Louis television station about his views on abortion, Mr. Akin, a six-term member of Congress who is backed by Tea Party conservatives, made it clear that his opposition to the practice was nearly absolute, even in instances of rape.

“It seems to me, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare,” Mr. Akin said of pregnancies from rape. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.””

So there you have it ladies.  You have ways to shut it down.  What this means I don’t know, but that is beside the point. 
This advice comes from a person who may be in the position to influence your life, the lives of your daughters or granddaughters beginning this fall if you fall for his malarkey. I also don’t understand the word “legitimate” in the context of rape.  But I do understand not voting for Republican candidates who think the public is stupid enough to believe anything they say.

Just saying . . .