Alex Fitzpatrick

shortformblog:

Missouri Senate candidate: “Legitmiate” rape victims can’t get pregnant

“First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare,” Missouri Rep. Todd Akin said in a Sunday interview. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” Akin, who is running against Sen. Claire McCaskill in November, then claimed that even if these biological mechanisms don’t work, the perpetrator, not the child, should be punished. Kind of tough to defend that.

First question, Mr. Akin: What’s the difference between a “legitimate rape” and an “illegitimate rape?”