“He hath spoken blasphemy!” (Mt. 26:65). Phony indignation is as old as sin itself, but the current deluge against Todd Akin’s statement bodes to set a new record.
Unfortunately, in conversational English, Akin said “legitimate rape.” Modern sociological thought has broadened the term “rape” to mean many things which is didn’t in previous generations. The law recognizes the concept of “statutory rape,” meaning “consensual” sexual relations with one who is incapable of giving consent according to the “statutes.” Generally, that means someone who is too young. It is misleading (though legally correct) to call such an offender a rapist. But modern thought, heavily informed by feminist philosophy, extends the term’s range to personal coercion within marriage, domestic disputes where a woman already has a consensual sexual relationship with the offender, and cases where she’s too drunk to consent or deny. (You’re familiar with the thought of Andrea Dworkin, right?) Todd Akin was speaking of a forced traumatic attack and, obliquely, was questioning the broader use of the term which is embraced by proaborts. As such, to speak of a “legitimate rape” was primarily a poor choice of words for a public audience. He should have said “forcible assault rape.”
Next, consider his claim that the raped body has ways of preventing pregnancy. Many commentators are pretending that Akin was expressing 18th-century misconceptions about sterility. They say this either through ignorance or malice. In fact, he was expressing views that were common among antiabortionists in the ’70s and ’80s, the early years of activism. Consider this paragraph from a medical doctor:
Finally, we must factor in one of the most important
reasons why a rape victim rarely gets pregnant, and
that is psychic trauma. Every woman is aware that
stress and emotional factors can alter her menstrual
cycle. To get pregnant and stay pregnant, a woman’s
body must produce a very sophisticated mix of hor-
mones. Hormone production is controlled by a part of
the brain which is easily influenced by emotions.
There’s no greater emotional trauma that can be ex-
perienced by a woman than an assault rape. This can
radically upset her possibility of ovulation, fertiliza-
tion, implantation and even nurturing of a pregnancy.
There’s nothing medieval in that. It comes from Abortion Questions and Answers by J. C. Willke (chapter 30 .pdf here or rev. ed. (1988) book at Amazon here). The book is written on a popular level, so the arcane and nearly impenetrable scientific documentation is missing. Is the paragraph strictly accurate according to today’s gynecological science? I certainly couldn’t say. But there’s nothing in it that is offensive to good sense, the common experience of mothers, and criminal statistics on rape pregnancies (which Willke did document).
Nobody would care about Akin’s imprecise statement were it not for the political benefits they hope to get. He hath spoken blasphemy! Yeah, right; I’m sure you’re just heartbroken.
Two facts remain: (1) pregnancy through assault rape does occur (albeit rarely), but it amounts to a microscopic sliver of the 1.5 million abortions annually performed in this country, hence, it is a straw man; and (2) the child is innocent and therefore not a fit subject for condemnation and execution.
