Republican Senate Candidate Todd Akin Wins Coveted “Most Odious Candidate for 2012” Award

Claims Pregnancy Doesn’t Come with ‘Legitimate’ Rape

Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri was a certain re-election loser until her opponent was chosen.  Republicans have nomined Rep. Todd Akin to take on Ms. McCaskill in the fall, and suddenly it looks like she could win.  One reason is that Mr. Akin, apparently a complete idiot,  has explained his opposition to abortion rights for rape victims this way.

First of all, from what I understand from doctors, (pregnancy from rape) is really rare,” Akin told KTVI-TV in a clip posted to YouTube by the Democratic super PAC American Bridge. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

Mr. Akin’s position is that rape does not result in pregnancy, therefore women who request an abortion based on rape are lying just to get an abortion.  Of course the truth is substantially different.

According to a 1996 study, approximately 32,000 pregnancies result from rape annually in the United States, and about 5 percent of rape victims are impregnated.

“Rape-related pregnancy occurs with significant frequency,” the study says, according to an abstract. “It is a cause of many unwanted pregnancies and is closely linked Justwith family and domestic violence.”

That Republicans could nominate this person perfectly describes the state of the Republican party in 2012.  That any voters will vote for this individual describes perfectly the intense hatred of the anti abortion rights forces in 2012.  That he could actually be elected describes the lack of decent thought in elections today.

And just reading about this makes The Dismal Political Economist want to try to wash the disgust from his psyche.