Remarks that women can't get pregnant from 'legitimate rape' draw condemnation from senior members of Akin's own party

The Republican candidate at the centre of a firestorm over his claim that "legitimate rape" rarely results in pregnancy is facing growing pressure to stand down as the row threatens to undermine both the party's White House and Senate campaigns.

Todd Akin, a Tea Party-backed congressman from Missouri who is running for the US Senate, was rounded on by senior members of his own party, as well as his Democratic opponent and women's groups.

Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate for president, used an interview with the National Review Online to denounce Akin in unusually forthright language that throws into doubt Akin's survival as a candidate.

"Congressman Akin's comments on rape are insulting, inexcusable, and, frankly, wrong," Romney said. "Like millions of other Americans, we found them to be offensive."

He added: "I have an entirely different view. What he said is entirely without merit and he should correct it."

But he stopped short of calling for Akin to step down.

Republican senator Scott Brown became the first member of the party to break ranks and call publicly for Akin to resign. "Rep Akin's statement was so far out of bounds that he should resign the nomination for US Senate in Missouri," Brown said in a statement.

Brown's response is not surprising, given he is well to the left of the party, fighting to retain his seat in a tight race in liberal Massachusetts.

Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson also called for Akin to pull out. On Twitter he said: "Todd Akin's statements are reprehensible and inexcusable. He should step aside for the good of the nation."

His intervention is potentially significant as vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan is from Wisconsin and the latest poll suggests Romney has taken a narrow lead over Obama in the state.

But even figures such as Karl Rove, George W Bush's strategist, told Fox News that Akin's "got some real explaining to do".

Barack Obama's campaign team portrayed the comments by Akin as further evidence of what it has dubbed the Republican 'war on women'.

The row began when Akin, in an interview with the St Louis channel KTVI-TV broadcast on Sunday, was asked about his opposition to abortion, even in the case of rape.

"It seems to me, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare," Akin replied. "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let's assume that maybe that didn't work or something: I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be of the rapist, and not attacking the child."

Akin won the Republican primary only this month with the backing of Tea Party groups. The Missouri race, against Democratic Senator Clare McCaskill, was seen as one of the most winnable for the Republicans in its bid to take control of the Senate.

Akin is only narrowly ahead in the polls and pollsters predicted his remark is almost certain to lose him a lot of votes, especially among women.

But the row could also have implications for the White House campaign as it has focused attention on an area of sensitivity for Romney: the views on abortion of his running mate Paul Ryan.

In a statement released after Akin's remarks, Romney's campaign team said: "Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan disagree with Mr Akin's statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape."

But the statement leaves questions about Ryan unanswered. Until the statement was released Ryan had been opposed to abortion even in the case of rape. Ryan was the co-sponsor of a House bill last year called 'No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act' that included what it referred to as "forcible rape", though the phrase was later dropped after a backlash from women's groups.

The Obama campaign, which has successfully dictated the agenda of the White House race over the last few weeks, is running a campaign ad in swing states focusing on Romney and Ryan's views on abortion. The ad said Romney had made his VP choice but "what choice will women be left with?"

The ad says that both Romney and Ryan support proposals to outlaw abortion even in the case of rape and incest.

Romney has an ambiguous record on abortion, promising while campaigning for governor of Massachusetts not to change existing law but adopting a tougher position when campaigning to become the Republican presidential nominee.

Ryan, by contrast, has been consistently opposed to abortion in almost all circumstances.

The row is a distraction the Romney-Ryan team did not need as the two were campaigning Monday in New Hampshire. On the stump together, they sought to discuss Medicare, an issue on which they are vulnerable, anxious to have the debate now rather than later in the campaign, and the slowness of the economic recovery.

Akin, later on Sunday, partially backtracked from his earlier remarks, saying he had been speaking off the record and had "misspoke".



He added: "I recognise that abortion, and particularly in the case of rape, is a very emotionally charged issue. But I believe deeply in the protection of all life, and I do not believe that harming another innocent victim is the right course of action."

His opponent, Claire McCaskill, a close ally of Obama, said that Akin had not addressed several issues, including his comment that women's bodies closed down during rape.

She called on Akin to apologise for that and other contentious statements, but rather than join the calls for him to quit she warned the Republican leadership that any attempt to oust him as the candidate would backfire.

"I think for Washington party insiders to come in and try to invalidate the votes of Missourians would be radical," McCaskill said in a phone interview with The Huffington Post.

McCaskill, seeking re-election, was widely regarded as vulnerable but her opponent's remarks play into her strategy of painting him as an extremist, provided he remains the candidate.

Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, head of the Democratic National Committee, sought to broaden the issue beyond Missouri politics, accusing Republicans of wanting to "take women back to the Dark Ages".

She added: "The real issue is a Republican party – led by Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan – whose policies on women and their health are dangerously wrong."