Avoiding the real question

Todd Akin, R-Mo., talks with reporters after a TV interview in which he said that women’s bodies can prevent pregnancies in “a legitimate rape” and that conception is rare in such cases. (AP Photo)

I don’t think Missouri Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin meant to say that some rapes are legitimate when he made his now famous comment:

“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” says Akin.

But he was reflecting on a dilemma faced by people who sincerely believe that a pregnant women must be compelled by the government to give birth.

They cite many reasons to believe this, both theological and scientific [i.e., there is no such thing as an ‘evil gene’ that can be passed from a rapist to a child], but the bottom line is they feel so strongly about it that they want the government to dictate to a woman or a girl who may want to end a pregnancy: no you may not.

It’s difficult to justify in cases of rape and incest, so they argue that many rapes aren’t really rapes but consensual sex. They also argue, like Todd Akin, that it’s rare for violent rapes to lead to pregnancy. Akin is hardly the first person to argue this.

“This is Dr. John Willke of Life Jewels, forcible rape rarely causes a woman to become pregnant,” says Dr. Willke.

There are statistical arguments, hormonal arguments, but even if this were true, it’s not the issue.

When Akin issued his clarification, acknowledging his statement didn’t reflect his deep empathy for rape victims, he again emphasized he didn’t believe that harming a child was the answer. Because regardless of how conception takes place, the offspring is innocent, which is true.

But that’s not the issue when you’re asking voters to elect you to write laws. In that case, the pertinent question is this: Would you give government the power to require all pregnant girls and women to give birth or not?

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