Visitors From Another Planet

The outrageous and irresponsible statements made this weekend by Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) — a man running for the United States Senate — absolutely blew me away. Just in case you missed it, Akin asserted his opposition to abortion under any circumstances, saying that “From what I understand from doctors…in cases of legitimate rape, you know, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

After my jaw finished dropping, my next thought was WTF? Legitimate rape? As opposed to what? Illegitimate rape? Consensual rape?

“The female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down”? What planet is this guy from?

Tell that to the estimated 32,000 rape victims who are impregnated each year, according to The Washington Post. Akin, of course, later back pedaled a bit, saying in a statement that he “mis-spoke,” but still held firm that abortion under any circumstances was wrong. This Tea Party backed candidate has apparently made similar outrageous remarks about women – going so far as to say women might claim to be raped when they were not to obtain abortions or to gain sympathy during divorce proceedings.

Akin’s opponent in the Senate race is Claire McCaskill (D), a former prosecutor. She called Akin’s statement “ignorant” and “offensive.” I think she is being way too politically correct here. A quick check of comments on Twitter and other social media were not as kind.

The Romney/Ryan camp immediately distanced themselves from Akin’s remarks. “Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin’s statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape,” said a campaign statement.

They disagree? How nice.

Could that sentence be any more plain vanilla? These are the same people that plan to defund Planned Parenthood, overturn Roe v. Wade, and ban most forms of birth control. And that’s just the beginning.

These are the guys that want to lead our nation into the future. Um, ground control to Major Tom…