Tea Party Candidate Todd Akins - No pregnancy from "legitimate rape"

In a year filled with attacks and stunningly backward statements from Republican regarding women’s reproductive health issues, the Tea Party Senate nominee from Missouri, Rep. Todd Akins, seems to have outdone himself this Sunday.

Explaining his opposition to abortion, even in the instance of rape, he said that victims of “legitimate rape” don’t get pregnant stating “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

So what does Rep. Akins consider to be a “legitimate” rape? An”illegitimate” rape? And what exactly are these unspecified “ways” women have of avoiding pregnancy in the event of being legitimately raped?

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As reported by the LA Times:

“According to a 1996 study by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, an estimated 32,101 pregnancies result from rape each year. The journal put the national rape-related pregnancy rate at 5% among victims age 12 to 45.

The answer by Akin — who sits on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology — led to instant condemnation from his opponent and women’s advocates.”

McCaskill tweeted, “As a woman & former prosecutor who handled 100s of rape cases, I’m stunned by Rep Akin’s comments about victims this AM.”

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Tea Party Candidate Todd Akins – No pregnancy from “legitimate rape”