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Phil Gingrey Defends Todd Akin's Rape Comment: 'He's Partly Right'

GOP Congressman Defends Todd Akin's Rape Comment: 'He's Partly Right'
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Senior Politics Reporter, HuffPost

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Former Senate candidates Todd Akin (R-Mo.) and Richard Mourdock (R-Ind.) may have lost their respective elections over their controversial comments about rape and abortion, but Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) made the point clear on Thursday that they are not alone in their beliefs.

Gingrey, a former OBGYN and co-chair of the House GOP Doctors Caucus, defended the two men at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast in Georgia on Thursday morning. He said he believes that they are at least "partly right" in what they said about pregnancy and rape, the Marietta Daily Journal reported:

In Missouri, Todd Akin ... was asked by a local news source about rape and he said, "Look, in a legitimate rape situation" -- what he meant by legitimate rape was just look, someone can say I was raped: a scared-to-death 15-year-old that becomes impregnated by her boyfriend and then has to tell her parents, that's pretty tough and might on some occasion say, "Hey, I was raped." That's what he meant when he said legitimate rape versus non-legitimate rape. I don’t find anything so horrible about that. But then he went on and said that in a situation of rape, of a legitimate rape, a woman’s body has a way of shutting down so the pregnancy would not occur. He’s partly right on that. ...

And I've delivered lots of babies, and I know about these things. It is true. We tell infertile couples all the time that are having trouble conceiving because of the woman not ovulating, "Just relax. Drink a glass of wine. And don't be so tense and uptight because all that adrenaline can cause you not to ovulate." So he was partially right wasn’t he? But the fact that a woman may have already ovulated 12 hours before she is raped, you’re not going to prevent a pregnancy there by a woman's body shutting anything down because the horse has already left the barn, so to speak. And yet the media took that and tore it apart.

Akin said in August that victims of "legitimate rape" rarely get pregnant, because "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." He later apologized and acknowledged that his comment was factually wrong. Recent studies have shown that rape and consensual sex have the same pregnancy rate.

Gingrey also defended Mourdock, who said in October that he opposes legal abortion without an exception for rape victims because if a woman conceives from rape, "it is something God intended to happen."

“Mourdock basically said, 'Look, if there is conception in the aftermath of a rape, that’s still a child, and it’s a child of God, essentially,'" Gingrey said. "Now, in Indiana, that cost him the election."

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Before You Go

Political Reaction To Akin 'Rape' Comments
Gov. Jan Brewer (R-Ariz.)(01 of19)
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"Well, I thought his comments were a little bit outrageous," she told KJZZ's Mark Brodie. "I'm not in a position to [decide] whether it's right for the party to pull funding, I mean, those people there raise the money, they get to spend it however they wish." (credit:AP)
Mitt Romney(02 of19)
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"As I said yesterday, Todd Akin's comments were offensive and wrong and he should very seriously consider what course would be in the best interest of our country," said Romney in a statement. "Today, his fellow Missourians urged him to step aside, and I think he should accept their counsel and exit the Senate race."Earlier, from an interview with the National Review:
"Congressman's Akin comments on rape are insulting, inexcusable, and, frankly, wrong," Romney said. "Like millions of other Americans, we found them to be offensive."
 (credit:AP)
Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.)(03 of19)
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"He should be ashamed of himself to be talking about it in that way," Christie said. "It's stunning to me that somebody who's offering themselves for high office like that would have those kind of thoughts and use that kind of language." (credit:AP)
Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.)(04 of19)
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From Patch:
Gov. Scott Walker said Tuesday that Republican Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin should drop out of the race after Akin made controversial comments about rape and pregnancy."Yes, he should step down. Those comments were ignorant at best and outrageous," Walker said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Sturtevant.
 (credit:AP)
Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-Va.)(05 of19)
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"He's got to seriously decide what's in the best interest of the party, what's in the best interest of the state of Missouri, and frankly, at this point, given that flat wrong statement, whether he can win," McDonnell told The Huffington Post."I think there was a belief a month ago, when it was just he and [incumbent Sen. Claire] McCaskill head to head after he got the nomination, that it would be a hard-fought competitive race, with Romney at the top of the ticket and up double digits, that this would be a race that would be winnable for the Republicans," McDonnell said. "To say things that seemed to be so flat wrong and out of touch with both science and the people, I think it makes it very difficult at this point for him to win." (credit:AP)
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)(06 of19)
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"It is beyond comprehension that someone can be so ignorant about the emotional and physical trauma brought on by rape ... The ideas that Todd Akin has expressed about the serious crime of rape and the impact on its victims are offensive." (credit:AP)
Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan Campaign(07 of19)
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"Gov. Romney and Congressman (Paul) Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin's statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape," Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said."Congressman's Akin comments on rape are insulting, inexcusable, and, frankly, wrong," Romney said. "Like millions of other Americans, we found them to be offensive." (credit:AP)
Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)(08 of19)
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"What he said is just flat wrong in addition to being wildly offensive to any victim of sexual abuse. Although Representative Akin has apologized, I believe he should take time with his family to consider whether this statement will prevent him from effectively representing our party in this critical election," said McConnell, according to the Los Angeles Times. (credit:AP)
Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.)(09 of19)
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"As a husband and father of two young women, I found Todd Akin's comments about women and rape outrageous, inappropriate and wrong. There is no place in our public discourse for this type of offensive thinking. Not only should he apologize, but I believe Rep. Akin's statement was so far out of bounds that he should resign the nomination for US Senate in Missouri." (credit:AP)
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa)(10 of19)
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"Whether he has mispoken or whether he has a position that we would have trouble agreeing on, I don't know that. I do know him and I do know his family, and I'm impressed with what they've accomplished. So that's the best I can do with what little bit I know," said King.And later:"I just haven't heard of that being a circumstance that's been brought to me in any personal way," he told KMEG. "I'd be open to hearing discussion about that subject matter." (credit:AP)
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.)(11 of19)
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"I have to agree with those, including Republicans, who have said he should give up his race for Senate," said Van Hollen on NewsNation with Tamron Hall. (credit:AP)
Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.)(12 of19)
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"Like Joe Biden's comments last week, I find Todd Akin's comments made Sunday to be just as outrageous and offensive. Such insulting and offensive remarks from Joe Biden and Todd Akin have no place in our political discourse," said Mack in a press release. (credit:AP)
Former Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.)(13 of19)
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Talent, who once held the Senate seat Akin is running for, declined to endorse Akin on Monday."It's a decision he has to make," Talent said when asked whether Akin should step aside, according to the Los Angeles Times."I can't agree with anything [Akin] said," Talent later clarified. (credit:AP)
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.)(14 of19)
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"Now, Akin's choice of words isn't the real issue here. The real issue is a Republican party -- led by Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan -- whose policies on women and their health are dangerously wrong.I'm outraged at the Republicans trying to take women back to the dark ages -- if you agree, join me in taking a stand for women.Really, it's deeply concerning that Republicans continue to support legislation that is, quite literally, dangerous for women.Mitt Romney famously says he would "get rid of" federal funding for Planned Parenthood if he had the chance. His running mate, Paul Ryan, was one of more than 200 Republican cosponsors of a piece of legislation that would have narrowed the definition of rape.Can you imagine -- the same Republican House that refuses to pass a jobs bill jumped at the opportunity to make life harder for victims of rape?And what do Romney and Ryan think of Akin's latest statement? They've been trying to distance themselves from it -- but Congressman Ryan has already partnered with Akin on a whole host of issues that restrict women's ability to make their own health care decisions." (credit:AP)
Terry O'Neill, President Of The National Organization For Women(15 of19)
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"That kind of rhetoric re-traumatizes sexual assault victims. ... That kind of talk, I believe, is intended to shame women," she told the Associated Press radio, characterizing the remarks as "flat-out astonishing." (credit:AP)
Joe Scarborough, Host Of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" (16 of19)
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"There is a rule," he [Scarborough] continued, "that we conservatives have followed for a long time, and it's the 'Bill Buckley Rule.' You elect the most electable conservative. The person who is the most conservative and who is the most electable is the one you put on the ticket. That's the part of the equation that we're losing over the last three years. And it's making Harry Reid the majority leader." (credit:AP)
Petition By The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee(17 of19)
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Sign your name to call on Speaker John Boehner to remove Rep. Todd Akin from the House Science and Technology Committee. Republican Congressman Todd Akin told a Missouri news station: "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." Someone who believes nonsense like this has no part overseeing science policy. Tell Speaker Boehner to immediately remove Rep. Akin from the House Science and Technology Committee.
 (credit:AP)
Susan B. Anthony List(18 of19)
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"Congressman Akin, a longtime pro-life leader, has said he had misspoken, and no one is arguing that rape is anything but a despicable, horrible crime. "Abortion supporters like Sen. Claire McCaskill are trying to use this issue as a smokescreen to hide from their radical, pro-abortion records that are out of step with the majority of Missourians and the American people. On the issues of taxpayer funding of elective abortion in Obamacare, protection of unborn girls being targeted in the womb solely because of their gender, and whether children capable of feeling pain in the womb should be protected, President Obama and Senator McCaskill have been on the wrong side, showing that they favor abortion on-demand, for any reason, up to the moment of birth, subsidized by the taxpayers. "If President Obama and Senator McCaskill care to focus on extreme positions, it is time for self reflection. It is time to answer the question why this president has recently rejected bans on gender selection and late term abortions. "Todd Akin, on the other hand, has a record of voting to protect human life. His opponent does not. Congressman Akin has been an excellent partner in the fight for the unborn."
Tea Party Express(19 of19)
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Tea Party Express, the nation's largest tea party political action committee, is urging Congressman Todd Akin to resign his candidacy for the U.S. Senate.Tea Party Express Chairman Amy Kremer said, "Congressman Akin's comments this weekend are not just unfortunate and inappropriate, but they are distracting from our main goal of defeating Claire McCaskill and taking the Senate gavel out of the hands of Harry Reid. At a time when our national debt is approaching $16 trillion, job growth is stagnate, and the Senate has failed to pass a budget in over 3 years, we need a candidate that is ready to help lead the charge for conservative solutions."One of the lessons we learned in 2010 is that we need candidates who are not only conservative, but are capable of putting together a strong campaign against liberal opponents. Akin's frequent 'Bidenisms' are distracting from the important issues at hand."It is critical that we defeat Senator Claire McCaskill in November, but it will be too difficult to achieve that with Todd Akin as the conservative alternative. He should step down and give conservatives a chance at taking back the Senate in November," Kremer concluded. (credit:AP)
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