

Get ready for some cold, hard science facts.

Rep. Todd Akin, the Republican nominee for Senate in Missouri, doesn't think abortion in the case of rape is really an issue. That's because he has it on good authority that women don't get pregnant from "legitimate rape" anyway.

First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.

The nonsense term "legitimate rape" aside, this claim is based on the belief that the female body won't let itself become pregnant during a rape, I guess because the women don't want to have a baby?

That does nothing to explain all the children born from rape and incest, or any number of accidental pregnancies. Women get pregnant without willing it all the time. Perhaps Rep. Akin would argue that their bodies simply weren't working hard enough.

But seriously, thanks for your insight, legitimate contender for public office in 2012.

UPDATE:

Akin says that he "misspoke."