I'm sure, like most people, that you've heard Todd Akin's remarks surrounding legitimate rape in the news over the past few weeks. If not, catch up and listen to some smart people talk about it in this episode of NPR's On Point. In short, Akin said that in cases of legitimate rape, women's bodies have certain protective ways of preventing pregnancy.
This entire statement is so laughable that, for awhile, I did not want to respond to it. But, while staying out of the fight is oftentimes easier, it is not always better. Women, on the whole, have been silenced for hundreds of years in many realms - economic, political and so on - and I'm happy to start talking back to anyone in any instance of this particular realm, discussions of reproductive rights, because it's the way I know how to try to change people's thought-processes for the better.
If you don't have time to listen to the link above, but want my take on the most interesting points (...and who doesn't, really?), keep reading:
1. Since his ridiculous remarks, Akin has apologized for misspeaking, but not for what he said. He still supports his stance of no abortion for any women, including survivors of rape or incest. And for that matter, so does Romney's VP candidate, Paul Ryan. So apparently, your smaller government has enough room for staffing folks who want to make the lives of women difficult. Fan-freaking-tastic.
2. Anyone who has taken high school biology (or hasn't, but is a sexually active person of reproductive age and beyond) knows that there aren't any mechanisms for women to "activate" their super power of preventing a pregnancy. Hellloooooo - there is a multi-million dollar industry, within the even larger pharmaceutical industry, specifically surrounding birth control. If women could prevent pregnancy on their own, why the heck would they spend their money and time on something they could do themselves?! Go-go-Gadget, Birth Control!
Just for fun, check out this calculator where you can find out how much you will spend on preventing pregnancy in your preferred method from whatever age you are currently until menopause. WARNING: Do not do this when you are feeling poor. It's like a punch in, well, the ovaries... which, although painful, is not an effective form of birth control.
3. If people start to believe that women actually can prevent pregnancy when they are raped, they will be blamed for these pregnancies resulting from rape or accused of making up actually being raped, since it's a fact that you cannot get pregnant from forced sexual intercourse. This is just one more dangerous form of victim-blaming, which we hear and perpetrate all the time - "When you wear a skirt that short, you're asking for it." ...ASKING FOR WHAT?! or "She was walking alone at night, what do you expect?" Well, I expect to be left alone and to walk safely to my destination, no matter the location of the sun in the sky. We all need to stop justifying rape in this way by saying, agreeing with, or even standing by and not disagreeing with words like these.
Todd Akin is just one of the people attacking reproductive rights these days, and the best way to get back at these attacks is to slander his name... and throw rotten tomatoes at him whenever possible.
No, not really - it's to vote, have your voice heard, and think a lot about how involved you want the government in your personal decision making.
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