What was todd akin thinking

Here's a look back at where the belief comes from, and why it's still around:. How long has this no-pregnancy-in-rape theory been around? Think 13th century. One of the earliest British legal texts — Fleta , from about — has this familiar-sounding clause: "If, however, the woman should have conceived at the time alleged in the appeal, it abates, for without a woman's consent she could not conceive.

So that if an absolute rape were to be perpetrated, it is not likely she would become pregnant. What's the medical underpinning of this theory? From medieval times until the 19th century, doctors and laypeople alike widely believed that women only conceived if they had an orgasm, since the presumed female "seed" — needed to complement the male sperm to achieve pregnancy — was thought be secreted only during sexual climax.

When did it get tied into abortion politics? In , lawyer James Leon Holmes now a federal judge in Arkansas argued for a constitutional ban on abortion with this colorful analogy : "Concern for rape victims is a red herring because conceptions from rape occur with approximately the same frequency as snowfall in Miami. Stephen Freind R argued in a debate on abortion that the odds of pregnancy from rape are "one in millions and millions and millions," because "when that traumatic experience is undergone, a woman secretes a certain secretion which has a tendency to kill the sperm.

Is that the more modern biological explanation? Not necessarily the "secretions" part, but "the idea that trauma is a form of birth control continues to be promulgated by anti-abortion forces that seek to outlaw all abortions, even in cases of rape or incest," says Garance Franke-Ruta at The Atlantic.

Some lawmakers have been kind of fuzzy on the specifics — Akin was, and North Carolina state Rep. Henry Aldridge R was more colorfully vague in , when he said "medical authorities agree" that "people who are raped — who are truly raped — the juices don't flow, the body functions don't work, and they don't get pregnant. Willke, a physician and former president of the National Right to Life Committee, lays out his case fairly clearly in a article in Life Issues Connector , which is still reprinted on anti-abortion websites: "To get and stay pregnant a woman's body must produce a very sophisticated mix of hormones," and the terrible trauma of "assault rape" can upset that hormone cocktail and "radically upset her possibility of ovulation, fertilization, implantation, and even nurturing of a pregnancy.

Is there any scientific basis for this belief? It's the "contemporary equivalent of the early American belief that only witches float," says Franke-Ruta. The idea that rape would make a woman "physiologically more likely to miscarry or not to conceive at all " might sound sort of plausible "from a holistic perspective," says James Hamblin at The Atlantic. After all, we spend millions of dollars on "foods, colors, aromas, feng shui" and other purported tools for "optimizing an environment for conception.

In real terms, the AJOG study found, more than 32, pregnancies result from rape each year in the U. Is there any upside to claiming that rape can't result in pregnancy?

It's telling that Republicans are running away from Akin as fast as they can — obviously most Americans don't agree that "women possess magical mechanisms for preventing conception when they've been attacked. Most Americans want both a fair-market and freedom - to detemine for ourselves how best to live our lives in ways that do not hurt others, in ways that allow us to live by and through our own conscience.

And most Americans do not confuse themselves with trying to define "bad" rape, from "good" rape We know that rape is rape, is rape. The ugly truth is this: some men rape women and men for purposes of power. However, only women can become pregnant as a result.

If men could become pregnant as a result of rape - we would probably not be having the debate underlying this controversy. The Almighty gave us free will that no government should have the power to challenge, frustrate, or take away.

Choice transcends our experience, and it is time we began remembering the value of real freedom, and its real price. On issues of choice, men have only one choice - trusting women to make choices regarding their bodies - anytime, everytime, all the time.

At some point our America will move past this debate, and we will be a stronger community as a result. In the end, Akin will likely retire from public life. Money will dry up, the "important people" will stop returning calls. But if he doesn't For Romney, the worst outcome is Akin remaining the standard-bearer in a swing state - in a race that could have at least theoretically helped the Republicans regain the US Senate.

Soon enough we will see if the reactionary right and its committed field grade officers - like Akin has the chops to survive this fight for the nomination for the US Senate.

From what I have read the Todd Akin theory of rape and conception is not new. It's been around in the anti-abortion movement since the 80s. It's another illustration where ideology trumps reason. If you want something to be true, then it is. There is extremism among us. Except now it is ruling one of the major two parties in our country.

The John Birch Society and its ideology used to be considered a fringe extremist group in the political spectrum. Today the Party of Lincoln is dead and gone. What we have in its place is the John Birch Society, and we continue to have dishonest Republicans around to pretend that the Republican Party is still a party of reason and in the mainstream.

Paul Ryan and Todd Akin are partners in redefining rape in Congress. They are on the same page that victims of rape who receive an abortion should be criminalized. Paul Ryan is second on the national ticket and has more clout than 1. Just so we are aware, Todd Akin is not an aberration. He represents what the base of the GOP thinks. To this point he has advocated the end of school lunches for hungry low income children, the repeal of the Civil Rights Act of , and the Voting Rights Act of Until this public embarrassment he has had the full throated and full dollar support of the GOP.

These are their positions. Restoring legalized segregation, ending school lunches, re-legalizing Jim Crow voter oppression. Privatize the Soc. Privatize and Voucherize Medicare. This is the party and positions that so-called "moderates" like our own Jack Roberts defend and support.

Todd Akin is about to announce he is not leaving the race.