When I first read Congressman Todd Akin's unbelievable, unfounded comments about "legitimate rape," I didn't react immediately. I scrolled right on past the outraged commentaries and their associated links. But then I stopped and realized what had happened -- I have become so desensitized to these types of statements from the GOP that I wasn't surprised enough to be outrage.
You can see Akin's comments here, but the real story is not t
hat the GOP has one member that is so adamantly opposed to a woman's right to choose that he fabricates scientific evidence about how the "...female body has ways to try and shut that whole thing down" when experiencing rape. It's that Akin spoke out loud about the policies Republicans support.
But, wait just a minute! Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have distanced themselves from the Congressman and issued statements that they disagree with his comments. And so have plenty of other Republicans running for office.
But do they really think what Akin said is wrong? Or are they attempting to save face by pushing back on what turned out to be (surprise!) unpopular with the public?
As it turns out, the Republican Party ratified its draft platform language today, which includes support for a constitutional amendment to declare "personhood" for fertilized eggs, effectively banning all abortion for any reason, in any circumstance.
Sounds to me like Todd Akin was indeed speaking on behalf of the Republican Party platform when he spoke about "legitimate rape" in attempts to justify a policy that impose a ban on all abortions, with no exceptions for rape or incest.
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