Legitimate Rape?

, member of the United States House of Representatives. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This has been a week-end of profound  befuddlement for me.

How does a man get elected to political office  for twenty-four  years,  here in this enlightened, technology dominated,  21st century,  who believes  in  a 13th century  concept of Legitimate Rape?   How does a man who believes in an obsolete medieval  medical concept,  offering it  without so much as a blush  as a rational reasonable  explanation for his opposition to abortion even in the case of rape, get elected to the  House in the first place, anywhere in this country,  much less for  six terms.  Did anybody in his district ever listen to this guy?  Just how far back in the woods is his district?

And the kicker  is this – this same man now  sits on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, let me repeat that ….. Rep. Todd Akin, (a Tea Party candidate for the Senate in Missouri) sits on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, the guy who publicly stated   ….. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”  How can a politician who publicly clings  to 13th century theories  on how a woman’s body works be expected to bring  any thing lucid to the table in any discussion on science, space or  technology?

This is a man with a B.S.  from Worcester Polytechnic Institute who worked  for  four years as an engineer at IBM.  Surely he knows better.

Of course he was just preaching to the choir.

Later on  Sunday his Facebook page  admitted an  error,  saying he misspoke  - declaring  ”It’s clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year,”  he said.

He did not apologize for  or  disavow his belief in Legitimate Rape nor did he  publicly correct the awful  fallacy  contained in that belief.

It will be interesting to see how women in Missouri feel about Legitimate Rape in November.