The GOP’s History of Attempting To Redefine Rape

You might recall the words of Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri last Sunday when he tried to defend his position on abortion restrictions for women who became pregnant as the result of being raped:

“It seems to me, 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. But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something. You know, I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be of the rapist, and not attacking the child.”

Republicans would have us believe that their “war on women” was nothing but a paranoid delusion or a campaign stunt created by desperate Democrats. However, with Rep. Todd Akin’s comments last Sunday, the whole “war on women” is coming back into focus.

In the following video, Lawrence O’Donnell discusses the GOP’s history of attempting to redefine the concept of rape:

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In this next video, Rachell Maddow discusses the fact that Rep. Akin is just the lastest in a long succession of Republicand who have been arguing against the rights of rape victims – to include Mitt Romney’s running mate Paul Ryan.

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In this next video, Lawrence O’Donnell discusses Rep. Akin’s legislative attempt at redefining rape along with his co-sponsor Paul Ryan.

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In this audio recording, Todd Akin tried to talk his way out of things claiming he was referring to “forcible rape” in his first post-gaffe interviews by conservative radio host Mike Huckabee.

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