Above is the link to remarks made on Sunday, by Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri. If I said his words "upset me" that would be a vast understatement. I've been devastated by his remarks, not only because they are callous and thoughtless but because he is not alone in his thinking. He and other dirt bags who claim to care about human life take their ques from Dr. John C. Wilke, who first articulated a point of view similar to this, in a book in 1985 and again in 99'. He says that because being raped is a "stressful event" (no shit!), that a woman's tubes are spastic thus sperm is less likely to fertilize an egg. Of course ACOG (American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology) and the CDC heartily disagree and assert that there is NO science to back up this claim, and that in fact there are approximately 32,000 pregnancies resulting from reported rapes each year. Morons like Bryan Fisher, director of issue analysis at American Family Association (one of those darling organizations that Chick-fil-A gives money to) defended Akin on his program "Focal Point" by citing Dr. Wilke. People from Missouri now have a "right to pray" which allows students to opt out of classes and assignments that violate their religious beliefs. But being able to deny a century and a half of scientific data because you think God POOFED the world into existence, instead of putting actual thought into it, which man uncovers via scientific exploration, is NO excuse for perpetuating bogus information created and spewed by one senile ass hole with an agenda.
I'm too tired to mince words and pretend I give a damn about who reads this. Politics is a spin. It's all about finding catch phrases and spinning them out over and over and over again. It's the arena where brilliant statements like "wealth will trickle down" and "we'll put the money in a lock box" are born. It's the place where Pro-Lifers go to shove shit they know nothing about, down the throats of the public at large. It satisfies their morally superior thirst for grandiose. It gives Congressman, Todd Akin a platform for spewing "Magic Vagina Tales"! But I want Todd Akin to go sit down next to the 10 year old girl in Texas who is pregnant with her father's child, and explain to her why after only a decade on this planet, he wants her body to absorb the trauma of childbearing and the birth of her own father's baby. I want him to tell her why she HAS TO HAVE A BABY. I want him to visit with a boy who is caught in the middle of a vicious custody battle between his mother, who decided to keep him, and his father, a stranger, who raped his mother 6 years ago. Explain to that child and to his mother why family laws cover the rights of violent rapists and allow them access to these children in EVERY SINGLE STATE IN OUR NATION.
I want someone to explain to me what in the Hell Todd Akin meant by "legitimate rape"??? I've heard it said that he was differentiating between actual rape and false claims of rape. Well, he wasn't asked about false claims. He was asked about abortions in instances of rape. I've heard people say that legitimate rape is the same as forcible rape (which as defined by the FBI, is anything but statutory. It includes intimidation and coercion - which accounts for more than half of all rapes). Unfortunately, a lot of people think that forcible rape is where a woman is beaten and physically forced. People tend to believe that if you're not viciously attacked in your home by a masked stranger and beaten nearly to death, that it's not actual rape. They blame victims for "putting themselves in a bad situation". In the not so distant past, many rapists weren't brought to trial on the basis that their victims weren't virgins. Because everyone knows that once a woman decides she wants to have sex with someone, her right to decide WHO-with, goes out the fucking window! Well I have news for you... I wasn't viciously attacked. I was coerced and threatened. And after it was over, I was tormented by the scum who did it as well as his friends, for months afterwards. I was followed, harassed, nearly run over, taunted, and threatened. I attempted suicide, twice. And then three years later I was assaulted AGAIN by a different man, but I was lucky and managed to persuade him to let me use the bathroom, and I was able to get away. So, Mr. Akin, were these legitimate attacks? Was I legitimately violated??? Were the 17 years of mental torment and desperation I suffered enough??? Would it have been better if I had been ovulating when I was raped so that I could have known the "blessing" of growing a seed of contempt and anguish? Would that have made it "legitimate"?
As with most incidences of rape, neither of the perpetrators who violated me were ever charged and they have never done a moment of jail time for their crimes. I've done enough time for both of them I guess. And as far as sexual assault penalties go, 17 years is more time than they would have gotten if their sentences were combined anyway.
One last thought and I'll retreat...
For weeks, good Christian folks came out of the woodwork to support the chicken chain whose head honcho hands money over to organizations that support the very men who are proponents of repugnant legislation that would allow rapists to sue their victims if they try to have an abortion and bills that would strip away a mother's right to live if her fetus were killing her. I saw nothing on Facebook for weeks except how Christian people were coming together to eat some chicken so that they could feel empowered in their struggle to preserve Biblical marriage (whatever the hell that means). But since Akin's comments on Sunday, not ONE chicken eater on my FB page has spoken out against Akin or his horrific comments. In fact, the only people who have mentioned it are myself, a fellow survivor of rape and a... GAY MAN!!! I find it absolutely fascinating that a homosexual whose rights the good chicken eaters try to supress, is the only other person who speaks out against Akin's remarks and exemplifies an ounce of compassion for women and victims of rape. That's very telling.
These last three days have shaken me and they've shaken my faith... in people that is. But I've gotta let it go. I can't fight you people. You Todd Akin's. I can't fight you all the time. I can't convince you and I can't change you. But I can move on from you. I can leave you behind me... Thank GOD.
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