Despite DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz's pathetic attempt to tie the Romney/Ryan campaign to Rep. Todd Akin, who made a boneheaded comment that "legitimate rape" rarely resulted in pregnancy, Mitt Romney has denounced the comment calling it insulting, inexcusable, and, frankly, wrong as well as offensive.
CNN:
"Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin's statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape," Romney campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg wrote.
[Update] An additional though here- Romney and his campaign have denounced Akin's comments but Obama still has not denounced the superPAC ad trying to link Romney to a woman's death, Biden's "put ya'll back in chains" remarks, Cutters direct lies, Reid's rumor mill comments about Romney, on the floor of the Senate with no evidence to back him up, Wasserman-Schultz's lies, etc....
I guess class will tell. [End Update]
Akin has since issued a statement saying he misspoke in the interview:
"As a member of Congress, I believe that working to protect the most vulnerable in our society is one of my most important responsibilities, and that includes protecting both the unborn and victims of sexual assault. In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it's clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year. Those who perpetrate these crimes are the lowest of the low in our society and their victims will have no stronger advocate in the Senate to help ensure they have the justice they deserve.
"I recognize that abortion, and particularly in the case of rape, is a very emotionally charged issue. But I believe deeply in the protection of all life and I do not believe that harming another innocent victim is the right course of action. I also recognize that there are those who, like my opponent, support abortion and I understand I may not have their support in this election.
"But I also believe that this election is about a wide-range of very important issues, starting with the economy and the type of country we will be leaving our children and grandchildren. We've had 42 straight months of unacceptably high unemployment, trillion dollar deficits, and Democratic leaders in Washington who are focused on growing government, instead of jobs. That is my primary focus in this campaign and while there are those who want to distract from that, knowing they cannot defend the Democrats' failed economic record of the last four years, that will continue to be my focus in the months ahead."
More from CNN on rape statistics:
Statistics on pregnancies that result from rape are difficult to produce, since rape is a crime that often goes unreported. The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, along with Planned Parenthood, each estimate that 5% of rapes lead to pregnancy. A 1996 study from the Medical University of South Carolina found the same percentage, adding that 32,101 pregnancies occurred annually from rape.
A couple of things popped out while hunting for statistics, one from NYT from 1989 which found that 1 percent of abortions were blamed on rape or incest and 95 percent of those named other reasons as well for getting an abortion.
Another from January 2012, via NYT, also shows that the percentage of pregnancies from rape will lower significantly, not because they happen less, but because the legal definition of "forcible rape" was changed to include oral and anal penetration, neither of which can result in pregnancy.
Side note- The term "legitimate rape" is bothersome and not something Akin's addressed in his statement after the firestorm of criticisms hit for his "rare" remarks.
Other than statistics of false rape claims, any time consent is absent or even withdrawn and the act continues, it is rape.
Related
The Looking Spoon remembers Whoopi Goldberg's "rape, rape" remarks and pointing to the hypocrisy of the left going nuts over this when most where silent when she publicly declared that drugging and raping a 13 year old child wasn't really "rape rape".
Erick Erickson at RedState asks if Akin's remarks are any more offensive that Obama supporting infanticide, where a child who survives an abortion and fully exits the womb can still be killed by the abortionist.
William Jacobson at Legal Insurrection points to the way everyone, including conservatives swarm on a stupid statement made by a Republican, yet do not hold the same standard for stupid statements made by Democrats.
Dana Loesch points out "Democrats want to make social issues the focus on the campaign as opposed to the economy, where they're losing, and Akin's interview gave them them the momentary opportunity they needed to shift attention away from the lagging economy. " Then asks "Was Akin's "misspeech" ridiculous? Of course. Is it worse than the misdeeds of his opponent, Claire McCaskill, who rubber-stamps Obama's war on Missouri coal jobs and tripled our deficit?
It was a boneheaded remark but since Akin is up against McCaskill in Missouri, it is up to residents of that state to determine which candidate they think will do a better job representing them.
The rest of us, after addressing the issue if we so choose, should then get back to what concerns us the most. The economy, jobs, national deficit and debt and who we think can turn things around. Obama with more of the same or Romney/Ryan with a different approach?