Former Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) is back on the scene — as much his fellow Republicans might wish he would just go away. And he's explaining what he really meant by that infamous "legitimate rape" comment: That he was simply questioning whether a woman is really telling the truth when she says she was raped, or just trying to get an abortion instead.
"When a woman claims to have been raped, the police determine if the evidence supports the legal definition of 'rape'," Akin says in his upcoming book, entitled Firing Back: Taking on the Party Bosses and Media Elite to Protect Our Faith, and on which the Daily Mail is reporting from an advance copy. "Is it a legitimate claim of rape or an excuse to avoid an unwanted pregnancy?"
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Akin is still standing by the claim — which is not supported by the medical community — that pregnancy can be avoided in cases of sexual assault: "My comment about a woman's body shutting the pregnancy down, was directed to the impact of stress on fertilization. This is something fertility doctors debate and discuss. Doubt me? Google 'stress and fertilization,' and you will find a library of research on the subject," he said.
"The research is not conclusive, but there is considerable evidence that stress makes conception more difficult. And what could be more stressful than a rape?"
-
The Week Unwrapped: Will US Catholics rebel against the Pope?Podcast Plus what are the ethics of freezing your late partner?
-
David Hockney at Annely Juda: an ‘eye-popping’ exhibitionThe Week Recommends ‘Some Very, Very, Very New Paintings Not Yet Shown in Paris’ testifies to the artist’s ‘extraordinary vitality’ and ‘childlike curiosity’
-
The most downloaded country song in the US is AI-generatedUnder the radar Both the song and artist appear to be entirely the creation of artificial intelligence
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
