Why It’s So Important For Rape To Be ‘Legitimate’

Todd Akin (R-MO): Legitimately creepy

Daily Kos

by Dante Atkins

Sun Aug 26, 2012 at 06:00 AM PDT

Unless you’ve been spending the past week or so living under a rock—and given the political climate these days, it would be hard to blame you for doing so—you can’t have missed the fact that Republican Congressman and newly minted Senate nominee from Missouri, Todd Akin, went on a St. Louis television station and proceeded to stick his foot so far down his mouth that his toes tingled his duodenum.

Akin’s comments, which have led panicked Republicans to call for him to drop out of the race lest his misogynist toxicity metastasize to infect the Romney/Ryan ticket and Republicans across the nation, centered around two atrocities: first, the absurd idea that female reproductive anatomy can shut down in response to rape and somehow prevent conception; and second, the use of the term “legitimate rape” to describe the circumstances under which a woman’s magic ovaries would somehow initiate the aforementioned shutdown of reproductive capacity. Taken together, the comments as a whole were designed to justify Akin’s opposition to any exemptions for abortion, even in cases of rape or incest: After all, per Akin’s logic, if a woman gets raped, she won’t get pregnant; so if she’s pregnant, well, no exemption is required.

The biological aspect of Akin’s comments seems to have drawn more scorn and outright mockery: After all, how can someone pretend to take a leading role in legislating women’s bodies without even knowing the basics of how they work? The comments about “legitimate rape,” however, were a different story, as seemingly every Democratic candidate and committee in existence sent an email to their lists seeking to raise money and respond to Akin’s outrageous implication that some rapes are okay.

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Obama: GOP On Women’s Health Like ‘Being In A Time Machine’

President Obama speaks at the Washington Convention Center in Washington. (Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images / April 27, 2012)

Chicago Tribune

By Michael A. Memoli

5:09 p.m. CDT, April 27, 2012

WASHINGTON — President Obama on Friday castigated the Republican Party for what he said were dated views onwomen’s healthissues, saying the recent debate over contraceptives was “like being in a time machine.”

Speaking at a women’s conference organized by his campaign, Obama called the issue “illuminating.”

“Republicans in Congress were going so far as to say an employer should be able to have a say in the healthcare decisions of its female employees,” Obama said. “I’m always puzzled by this — this is a party that says it prides itself on being rabidly anti-regulation. These are folks who claim to believe in freedom from government interference and meddling. But it doesn’t seem to bother them when it comes to a woman’s health.”

Obama also pointed to the efforts in state legislatures to place new restrictions on abortion, singling out Virginia’s attempt, ultimately unsuccessful, to require an invasive ultrasound before a woman could have the procedure. He paraphrased the Republican governor of Pennsylvania, who said a woman who didn’t like the procedure could “close your eyes.”

“It’s appalling. It’s offensive. It’s out of touch,” he said. “Women across America aren’t closing their eyes. As long as I’m president, I won’t either. The days of male politicians controlling the healthcare decisions of our wives and our mothers and our daughters and our sisters — that needs to come to an end.”

Polling has shown a significant gender gap in the presidential race, with Obama opening a healthy lead among women while Mitt Romney is favored by male voters.

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Virginia Poll: 52% Oppose Ultrasound Law

Politico

By TIM MAK | 3/21/12 8:04  AM EDT

A majority of Virginians stand against the state’s new law that requires  women seeking an abortion to  undergo an ultrasound before the procedure, a new survey shows.

Fifty-two percent of voters said they opposed the law, compared with 41  percent who support it, according to a Quinnipiac  University poll released Wednesday.

Further, an overwhelming 72 percent of Virginians said that the  government should not make laws aimed at changing the minds of women who are  seeking abortions.

Men disapprove more strongly of the non-invasive ultrasound  law than women: 56 percent of men are against it and 38 percent back it,  while women disapprove 49 percent to 44 percent.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/74295.html#ixzz1pmBhObKp

 

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A Letter to Mitt Romney: What ‘Getting Rid’ of Planned Parenthood Means

Huff Post

Posted: 03/20/2012  9:37 am

Carolyn Smithers
Mother; Planned Parenthood patient

Like so many young women in this country, when I was 19 years old I went to a Planned Parenthood health center for a routine pap test.

The test detected cervical cancer, but because the cancer was caught early, I was able to get treatment and now three decades have passed.
Planned Parenthood saved my life.

So you can imagine my surprise when Mitt Romney said, “Planned Parenthood, we’re going to get rid of that,” during a discussion about the federal budget.

I wanted to share my family’s story with him. I wanted him to understand what’s at stake.

So I sat down and wrote to him. This is the letter I sent him:

Dear Governor Romney,

I don’t ordinarily write letters to politicians. We’ve never met. I’m a single mom living in Florida, and you have a pretty full plate.

My teenage daughters are on Spring Break this week, and I want to spend all the time I can with them. But first I’m reaching out to you because I am so troubled by comments you made this week. I was surprised and alarmed to see video of you saying, “Planned Parenthood, we’re going to get rid of that,” during a discussion about the federal budget.

Governor Romney, Planned Parenthood saved my life. I know what it would mean to “get rid of” Planned Parenthood.

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Bob McDonnell: Turning Back the Clock on Women’s Health (VIDEO)

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