Laura Ingraham’s comments about rape and emergency contraception on Fox News on Tuesday makes one thing so painfully obvious: you really don’t have to think things through if you are a conservative talking head. No really; you can just say whatever you want, without any facts to back up your claim, as long as your statement will incite outrage among your base.

It’s no secret that the right-wingers over at Fox News do not like the thought of emergency contraception being made available to teenagers over the counter; they have been raging about it for a couple of months. Last month one guest even accused the Obama Administration of “encouraging statutory rape.” That comment was bad enough, but Ingraham takes the prize for the most poorly thought out argument thus far:

“It’s a good deal for pedophiles, a good deal for people who commit statutory rape against young girls,” Ingraham told Fox News. “If mothers and fathers across this country hear this and they think, ‘Well, I guess my daughter or her boyfriend or her rapist can go out to a pharmacy and get a bunch of, you know, hormone pills to give a little girl.’ We don’t really know the effect of a spiking or dropping a little girl’s — in many cases a young woman’s or a little girl’s hormonal levels. It’s outrageous!” “These girls can’t get their ears pierced, they can’t take an Advil at school without parental permission. Yet, they can go into a pharmacy in this Brave New World of women’s equality and — quote — reproductive health and get a morning after pill. I think it empowers men who want to abuse women.”

Here’s the video:

So according to Ingraham, the morning after pill is somehow going to empower a rapist, to what? Rape more? Because you know how rapists are always concerned about whether or not their victims get pregnant! Perhaps, Ingraham doesn’t realize that if that were the case, the new guidelines for over the counter sales don’t make a damn bit of difference, as it has been long available for purchase by adults. She must have conveniently forgotten about that in her eagerness to jump to asinine conclusions. If anything, making it available over-the-counter for teens will possibly help young victims. Now a teenage victim of incest or rape who is too afraid to come forward, can go to the drug store and buy the pill to protect themselves from an unwanted pregnancy. Plan B is not going to suddenly become a rapist’s drug of choice. It is not the new Rohypnol. Rapes are not going to spike because Plan B is available. How Ingraham came to that conclusion is totally mind-blowing.

She also implied that we don’t know whether or not the pill is safe for young girls. However, a statement made by FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, in December 2011 contradicts Ingraham’s claim:

The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) completed its review of the Plan B One-Step application and laid out its scientific determination. CDER carefully considered whether younger females were able to understand how to use Plan B One-Step. Based on the information submitted to the agency, CDER determined that the product was safe and effective in adolescent females, that adolescent females understood the product was not for routine use, and that the product would not protect them against sexually transmitted diseases. Additionally, the data supported a finding that adolescent females could use Plan B One-Step properly without the intervention of a healthcare provider. I reviewed and thoughtfully considered the data, clinical information, and analysis provided by CDER, and I agree with the Center that there is adequate and reasonable, well-supported, and science-based evidence that Plan B One-Step is safe and effective and should be approved for nonprescription use for all females of child-bearing potential.

I’m thinking that the Commissioner of the FDA has a bit more knowledge on the topic than a radio host but I could be wrong.

While Ingraham’s claims are sure to get the uneducated Fox viewers riled up, they are not based on reality. The only thing they do is leave one scratching their head, once again, at the amazing stupidity of some on the right.