Now... he's changed his mind.
Todd Akin & "legitimate rape": I'm sorry; No, I'm not!
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Todd Akin & "legitimate rape": I'm sorry; No, I'm not!
He apologized for his original remarks.
Now... he's changed his mind.
David G
Harbor Woodworks
https://www.facebook.com/HarborWoodworks/
"It was a Sunday morning and Goddard gave thanks that there were still places where one could worship in temples not made by human hands." -- L. F. Herreshoff (The Compleat Cruiser)
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Re: Todd Akin & "legitimate rape": I'm sorry; No, I'm not!
He should legitimately have his tongue cut out.Jarndyce and Jarndyce
The Mighty Pippin Mirror 30141
Looe Dragon KA93
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Re: Todd Akin & "legitimate rape": I'm sorry; No, I'm not!
Pregnancy from rape
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [The whole article is worth reading. I had no idea that this meme of 'a pregnancy is proof that a raped woman actually had consensual sex, that she enjoyed, because she wouldn't have become pregnant otherwise, and of course she is then a liar and a wonton slut to be punished, is at least several hundred years old, at least in the west.]
Pregnancy is a potential result of rape. It has been studied in the context of war, particularly as a tool for genocide, as well as other unrelated contexts, such as rape by a stranger, statutory rape, incest, and underage pregnancy. Although claims have been made to the contrary, the current scientific consensus is that rape is as likely to lead to pregnancy as consensual sexual intercourse, with some studies suggesting rape may result in higher rates of pregnancy than consensual intercourse.
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Pregnancy from rape is an ethical and moral issue in the context of opposition to legal abortion. In recent decades, claims of the improbability of rape-induced pregnancy, reminiscent of historical beliefs,[2][71] have again begun to play a role in political discourse surrounding abortion regulation in cases of rape, particularly in the United States.[2][7]
Claims that rape reduces the chance of pregnancy have at times been made by referring to the fact that chronic stress can reduce a woman's fertility over a long term. However the current scientific consensus is that this is specific to long-term stress—the acute stress reaction that occurs during rape cannot "shut down ovulation that has already begun".[1][2] In a 1972 article, physician and anti-abortion activist Fred Mecklenburg argued that pregnancy from rape is "extremely rare", adding that a woman exposed to the trauma of rape "will not ovulate even if she is 'scheduled' to".[81] Blythe Bernhard wrote in The Washington Post, "That article has influenced two generations of anti-abortion activists with the hope to build a medical case to ban all abortions without any exception."[82] [I]John C. Willke, a former president of the National Right to Life Committee and a general practitioner with training in obstetrics, has published similar statements since 1985.[6][7] In a 2012 interview he said, "This is a traumatic thing – she's, shall we say, she's uptight. She is frightened, tight, and so on. And sperm, if deposited in her vagina, are less likely to be able to fertilize. The tubes are spastic." These assertions were disputed by a number of gynecology professors.[6] A 1997 book published by the group Human Life International (which opposes legal abortion in all cases, including rape) claims that several studies performed in the 1970s show that only 0.08% of rapes result in pregnancy, and alternatively offers an estimate of 0.8% from other data. The same book dismisses contrary statistics, claiming that "the women who obtain abortions for 'rape' are almost always lying".[[/I]5]
Related views have also been expressed by pro-life groups outside the United States. The United Kingdom pro-life group Society for the Protection of Unborn Children similarly claims that rape-pregnancy is "extremely rare", in part because the "trauma of being raped makes it difficult for fertilisation or implantation to occur".[83] The Irish pro-life group Youth Defence published claims on its web site that "trauma from the rape may bring into play some natural defence mechanisms that reduce the likelihood of pregnancy", but removed these statements in 2012 following the Akin controversy, explaining that the group now deemed them "unreliable".[84] The Irish group Precious Life published claims that "the trauma of sexual assault is likely to inhibit ovulation" and "the rate of pregnancy arising from sexual assault is 0.1%".[85] Other groups that say rape prevents ovulation include the Australian group Pro-Life Victoria,[86] and the group Pro-Life Philippines.[87] The Austrian group Jugend für das Leben (Youth for Life) writes that "pregnancies after rape are extremely rare" because "protective mechanisms" from the stress of rape will "almost always prevent conception".[88]
In the US, several politicians in the Republican Party have advanced claims that pregnancy from rape is rare. Pennsylvania state representative Stephen Freind claimed in 1988 that the odds of a pregnancy resulting from rape were "one in millions and millions and millions".[89][90] James Leon Holmes published a letter in 1980 stating, "concern for rape victims is a red herring because conceptions from rape occur with approximately the same frequency as snowfall in Miami".[91] Holmes apologized for this remark in 2003 after he was nominated as a United States federal judge. (He was confirmed in 2004).[91][92] In 1995, North Carolina House of Representatives member Henry Aldridge remarked during a debate to eliminate a state abortion fund for poor women: "The facts show 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. Medical authorities agree that this is a rarity, if ever."[93][94] In 1998, Arkansas state senator Fay Boozman lost a campaign for a US Senate seat after remarking that fear-induced hormonal changes made rape victims unlikely to become pregnant. He later apologized and eventually called the claim a mistake, but the controversy was renewed in 1999 when he was appointed director of the Arkansas Department of Health by then-governor Mike Huckabee.[95][96] During his campaign in the United States Senate election in Missouri, 2012, US Representative Todd Akin commented on abortion exceptions for rape victims: "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."[97] The comment was widely criticized,[98][99][100][101][102] and Akin apologized, saying he "misspoke". Akin's suggestion that rape is unlikely to result in pregnancy was defended by some prominent individuals and groups which oppose legal abortion.[6][103][104] A SurveyUSA poll one day after Akin's comments reported that 76% of Missouri adults disagreed with Akin, 13% agreed with the statement and 11% were unsure.
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Re: Todd Akin & "legitimate rape": I'm sorry; No, I'm not!
Evolutionarily speaking, pregnancy is the reason rape exists as a behaviour.
Not that I expect morons like Akin to understand evolution.What are you doing about it?
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Re: Todd Akin & "legitimate rape": I'm sorry; No, I'm not!
You're gonna have to expand on that some.
The bulllsh!t about 'pregnancy from rape is rare' is anti-abortion propaganda, intended to chip away at the idea that a woman who has been raped should not be forced to bear the rapist's child.Last edited by Keith Wilson; 07-11-2014, 09:10 AM."For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations,
for nature cannot be fooled."
Richard FeynmanComment
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Re: Todd Akin & "legitimate rape": I'm sorry; No, I'm not!
He will never be a legitimate candidate agin, who should care what he says?
A member of the Miserable Creature Club, sure.Gerard>
Albuquerque, NM
Next election, vote against EVERY Republican, for EVERY office, at EVERY level. Be patriotic, save the country.Comment
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Re: Todd Akin & "legitimate rape": I'm sorry; No, I'm not!
Yet historically it's surprisingly common
If there were any practical way to do it without serious miscarriages of justice, I'd feel like organizing a vigilante posse to purge society of such scum that can't see beyond the end of their dicks. Can I say that on the intertubes? Honestly, I feel that way about vandals and theives, and the one percent, too.
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Re: Todd Akin & "legitimate rape": I'm sorry; No, I'm not!
There are good evolutionary reasons for it, alas. ('Good' meaning sufficient, not virtuous) It's only partially affected by culture, since it appears in every culture and time. The old ape slumbers lightly. That doesn't mean we can't make progress, though."For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations,
for nature cannot be fooled."
Richard FeynmanComment
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Re: Todd Akin & "legitimate rape": I'm sorry; No, I'm not!
Some males of many species copulate with unwilling females when presented with the opportunity, because those species have evolved in such a way as to make unwanted copulation an evolutionarily successful strategy for some males. In other words, in those species, males who forcibly mate with unwilling females may increase their genes' representation in the species' genome. (I'm simplifying a bit in my common usage of the term "genes", but it's close enough for this purpose.)
Humans are one of those species.What are you doing about it?
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Re: Todd Akin & "legitimate rape": I'm sorry; No, I'm not!
Originally posted by Norman Bernstein... the vast majority are indeed life-altering decisions on the part of the mother.The Case is AlteredComment
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Re: Todd Akin & "legitimate rape": I'm sorry; No, I'm not!
The Norsemen infiltrated all over Eastern and Western Europe. If you are a caucasion the odds are good that you have some Scandanavian DNA."They have a lot of stupid people that vote in their primaries. They really do. I'm not really supposed to say that but it's an obvious fact. But when stupid people vote, you know who they nominate? Other stupid people." -- James Carville on the plethora of low-quality GQP candidates in the mid-term election.Comment
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