page 2

Quote :

"Pregnant Woman Relieved To Learn Her Rape Was Illegitimate LITCHFIELD, CT—Though she was initially upset following the brutal sexual assault last month that left her pregnant, victim Martha Byars told reporters she was relieved Sunday to learn from Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) that her ability to conceive her unwanted child proves she was not, in fact, legitimately raped. “Being violently coerced into having sex was the worst thing that’s ever happened to me, so I take comfort in knowing it wasn’t actually rape,” Byars said of the vicious encounter in which she was accosted in an alleyway by a stranger, pinned to the ground, and penetrated against her will for 25 minutes. “It was absolutely horrific—I felt violated in the worst way imaginable—but thanks to Congressman Akin, I now realize it must, at some level, have been consensual after all.” “Thank God for that,” Byars added. “I’m so relieved to know that my child’s father, the man who muffled my screams as he forcefully penetrated me over and over and left me hemorrhaging to death on the street, is not a rapist.” Explaining that the Republican senatorial candidate’s statements had “really opened her eyes” by helping her understand the workings of her own reproductive system, Byars said she only wishes she could have known at the time of her near-fatal assault that the female body has ways to shut down conception during cases of tried-and-true rape. “Now that I know the truth, I realize none of the telltale signs of legitimate rape were there at all,” mused Byers, noting that her body did not in any way shut down but in fact continued to register excruciating pain throughout the entire cruel ordeal. “I must have at least subconsciously wanted it—otherwise, the sperm wouldn’t have been able to enter my body.” “Not only is this knowledge a blessing for me,” she continued, “but it will no doubt bring great hope to the tens of thousands of women who are forcibly and savagely impregnated in the United States every year.” "

http://www.theonion.com/articles/pregnant-woman-relieved-to-learn-her-rape-was-ille,29258/

I <3 the onion

8/21/2012 12:03:27 PM

So it's agreed. Ensuring your woman doesn't enjoy sex is a proven contraceptive.

8/21/2012 12:43:53 PM

Quote :

" rapists have employed many ways to deter identification."

oh man, my brain read enjoyed

hahahahaha

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

8/21/2012 12:46:04 PM

Quote :

"Byars said of the vicious encounter in which she was accosted in an alleyway by a stranger, pinned to the ground, and penetrated against her will for 25 minutes."

impressive...i figured most rapists would be, ah, fast to the finish

8/21/2012 12:57:52 PM

Maybe if women would stay in the kitchen and not work they wouldn't have to worry about rape in the first place.

Quote :

"What would happen today if most married women remained in the home fulfilling their traditional family roles? Think about how salaries and wages for men would move upward if a shortage of labor prevailed in this country. It’s the law of supply and demand again. Today’s eight percent unemployment figure would be reduced. I am guessing most young wives today, if given the choice, would opt to stay at home. Husbands would more likely have the ability to earn living wages to support their families without the need for a second income."

http://www.observer-reporter.com/or/mostread11/08-14-drummond-letter

8/21/2012 1:09:36 PM

Quote :

"Maybe if women would stay in the kitchen and not work they wouldn't have to worry about rape in the first place."

i'm glad it was a woman who finally said what we were all thinking

8/21/2012 1:13:35 PM

Quote :

"Geppetto: Not sure if this was a joke or not, but, although unnecessary, sexual arousal and orgasm do increase the likelihood or conception. With that said, it is not uncommon for women to experience orgasm during rape."

Exactly. And I think this is the part that people are reluctant to talk about (for obvious reasons). Many victims feel great shame about the way they physically responded to the act of rape. But they shouldn't feel ashamed, and their arousal does not make the act a consensual one. Similarly, if a 9 year-old boy gets an erection when his nanny molests him, that erection doesn't somehow mean that he wasn't legitimately molested.

The reality is that becoming aroused against your will is an excellent defense mechanism against vaginal trauma and sexually transmitted infections. It is not something that people should feel ashamed about, and it does not make a rape any less legitimate.

Furthermore, it is astounding that we have people (with the power to enact laws about rape) that actually subscribe to the line of thinking that arousal equals consent. And it's not just this one point either; a person who believes this about rape is likely to believe a whole bunch of other nonsense about women and the world in general.

In a later part of your post, you talk about how the most disturbing aspect of all this is the media's response and the Republican party's response. I disagree. To me, the most disturbing part is what I wrote about in the paragraph before this one. There is no defense for Akin's comments, attitudes, or point of view.

8/21/2012 1:36:38 PM

Quote :

"sexual arousal and orgasm do increase the likelihood or conception"

sexual arousal in a woman (in the form of natural, vaginal lubrication) can, in fact, contribute to the likelihood of conception...it's small, sure, but vaginal secretions help create a more hospital environment for sperm and improve their motility

8/21/2012 2:12:32 PM

?

I think you misread his post.

8/21/2012 2:15:36 PM

hah, you're right...i did

i'll leave it

8/21/2012 2:20:05 PM

Quote :

"more hospital environment"

I think this would mean the woman was sterile and therefore incapable of pregnancy

or you meant "hospitable"

[Edited on August 21, 2012 at 6:21 PM. Reason : .]

8/21/2012 6:21:07 PM

Someone should definitely rape his daughters and get them pregnant.

I mean, if they get pregnant, they are total sluts that wanted it, right?

8/21/2012 6:29:56 PM

I'll shake it up by saying that I think pregnancy as a result of a single rape is very rare. Of course, I think Akin's explanation is absurd and disgusting.

But pregnancy, in general, isn't an easy thing to achieve...even when both parties are consenting and at peak fertility (for the time of month/lifespan), the rate of conception is around 8 percent (last I checked). So, at a maximum, pregnancy as a result of rape is at 8 percent. When you factor in that many rape victims are not at peak fertility, that 8 percent rate goes down. And, when you factor in that many rape victims happen to be taking birth control, that rate goes down even more. The 1996 study posted on the previous page says the pregnancy rate as a result of rape is 5.0%, but we should be clear that this figure includes statutory rape victims--young women who have had sex with an older "boyfriend" or family member.

eleusis and quagmire02 noted that it was strange that such a large portion of victims didn't realize they were pregnant until the second trimester. And several female posters responded with plausible explanations for why a woman might not realize it. But we all missed the crucial sentence that preceded those statistics:

Quote :

"Among 34 cases of rape-related pregnancy, the majority occurred among adolescents and resulted from assault by a known, often related perpetrator. Only 11.7% of these victims received immediate medical attention after the assault, and 47.1% received no medical attention related to the rape. A total 32.4% of these victims did not discover they were pregnant until they had already entered the second trimester; 32.2% opted to keep the infant whereas 50% underwent abortion and 5.9% placed the infant for adoption; an additional 11.8% had spontaneous abortion."

They were not grown women who didn't realize they were pregnant. They were immature adolescents who were not familiar with the signs of pregnancy, were eager to hide their condition, and who probably didn't have access to a doctor they could readily see in private. I suspect, in some of these cases, it wasn't until they started to show (and an adult noticed) that any action was taken as to their condition.

And so Akin's comments, while disgusting, have prompted an opportunity to talk about this issue, but we're not doing it. Instead, crazy conservatives claim women are lying about rape in order to get abortions. And crazy liberals are hollering, "How dare you try to classify different types of rape!!! Rape is rape is rape!" Within this, we're overlooking who is most affected by rape-related pregnancy, as it relates to abortion: young girls.

Should a 14 year-old have to carry her uncle's baby to term? What about her step-father's baby? And the super cool 23 year-old who totally gets her, loves her, and buys her beer/jewelry? Anyway, I obviously think these girls should have access to abortions without question. And, as always, I'm deeply troubled that it's precisely the same people who want to take away their right to abortion who also want to deny them access to education, birth control, timely/private medical care, and financial assistance (should they make the "right" choice and keep the baby). In my opinion, promoting that set of policies is diabolical.

[Edited on August 21, 2012 at 7:34 PM. Reason : ...]

8/21/2012 7:28:59 PM

Illegitimate rape victims shouldn't be able to vote imo.

Im krallum and i approved this message

8/21/2012 7:39:45 PM

I don't see how any lawmaker could be this ignorant. Except for maybe that guy that thought Guam might tip over due to a large military presence.

Everybody is asking him to step out of the race, and I hope he does.

8/21/2012 8:13:50 PM

Quote :

"I think this would mean the woman was sterile and therefore incapable of pregnancy or you meant "hospitable""

i was, apparently, quite off today...damn

Quote :

"eleusis and quagmire02 noted that it was strange that such a large portion of victims didn't realize they were pregnant until the second trimester. And several female posters responded with plausible explanations for why a woman might not realize it."

i didn't say anything about it

8/21/2012 8:28:42 PM

You're right. But you know what I'm referring to:

Quote :

"quagmire02: no doubt...though it does seem strange to me that a woman could totally forget something that's been happening (about) every 28 days since she was (around) 12 or so"

8/21/2012 8:29:58 PM

well, it's true that i was assuming the victims were closer to my own age

8/21/2012 8:31:21 PM

[Edited on August 21, 2012 at 8:32 PM. Reason : ...........]

8/21/2012 8:31:55 PM

^^That's what I assumed too, and I also thought it was strange at first.

8/21/2012 8:54:14 PM

[Edited on August 22, 2012 at 2:05 AM. Reason : ....]

8/22/2012 2:04:00 AM

are you suggesting a solution to our missouri man's statement?

8/22/2012 9:53:19 AM

8/22/2012 11:27:55 AM

Quote :

"FISCHER: So what Todd Akin is talking about is when you’ve got a real, genuine rape, a case of forcible rape, a case of assault rape, where a woman has been violated against her will through the use of physical force, where it’s physically traumatic for her, he says in those circumstances the woman’s body, because of the trauma that’s been inflicted on her, it may interfere with the normal functioning processes of her body that lead to conception and pregnancy. There’s a very delicate and complex mix of hormones that take place that are released in a woman’s body, and if that gets interfered with, it may make it impossible for her or difficult in that particular circumstance to conceive a child. That’s all Todd Akin is saying. The brute force trauma of that event may inhibit her body’s ability to have that act of rape result in conception. That’s all he’s saying and he’s absolutely right about that."

http://bridgeproject.com/?rhetoric_detail&id=30&sort=0

8/22/2012 4:34:20 PM

8/22/2012 4:56:04 PM

^^ is that just an educated guess? Where is reference to any of that biological mechanism is commom?

It sort of make sense to me, but I don't know if hormones work that way. If it's trauma as well, it may be an immunological process involved as well.

[Edited on August 22, 2012 at 4:56 PM. Reason : ..]

8/22/2012 4:56:05 PM

yea i think the guy is just assuming that it would work that way...

i have yet to hear any doctors weigh in on this... but oh well.

8/22/2012 4:58:21 PM

Hmm, I should get my boss opinion on this, and other docs on this floor.

8/22/2012 5:03:09 PM

lol this guy's credibility

Quote :

"“New pill stops HIV virus. But won’t stop AIDS since caused by extensive inhalant drug use, not HIV.”"

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2012/07/18/bryan-fischer-is-an-aids-denier/

8/22/2012 5:15:09 PM

Quote :

"i have yet to hear any doctors weigh in on this... but oh well."

Because it's absurd. Just watch five minutes on any legitimate news program about this and they have countless doctors/medical school professors/anyone with a brain and they will completely shoot down this opinion.

And the Fischer guy is from the American Family Association. Here is their platform. Draw your own conclusions on their vested interest:

Quote :

"The American Family Association acts to: (1) restrain evil by exposing the works of darkness; (2) promote virtue by upholding in culture that which is right, true and good according to Scripture; (3) convince individuals of sin and challenge them to seek Christ’s grace and forgiveness; (4) motivate people to take a stand on cultural and moral issues at the local, state and national levels; and (5) encourage Christians to bear witness to the love of Jesus Christ as they live their lives before the world. "

[Edited on August 22, 2012 at 5:20 PM. Reason : lol this guy has some amazing points of view. hilarious...]

8/22/2012 5:17:22 PM

oh i wasn't putting this guy on here as a credible source

8/22/2012 5:27:11 PM

^^ Sounds legit.

8/22/2012 5:44:31 PM

Can we have one fucking political topic in this country that isn't tinged with religion?!?

8/22/2012 6:23:09 PM

Nope

Oh, and here is a woman who's illegitimate rapist is suing to get custody of their illegitimate child.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/22/opinion/prewitt-rapist-visitation-rights/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

Quote :

"While a student in my final year of college, at age 21, I was raped. ... You see, nine months after my rape, I gave birth to a beautiful little girl. You could say she was conceived in rape; she was."

She should have had a legitimate rape. People who asked her

Quote :

"What were you wearing? Did you scream loudly? Did this occur in public?"

Are perfectly reasonable for asking these questions.

[Edited on August 22, 2012 at 7:29 PM. Reason : .]

8/22/2012 7:16:51 PM

http://m.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2012/election_2012_senate_elections/missouri/questions_2012_missouri_senate_august_22_2012

Dude trails by 10 points in the polls now

8/23/2012 11:45:14 AM

i do certainly appreciate his help in getting dems elected

8/23/2012 12:04:54 PM

8/23/2012 5:24:07 PM

8/24/2012 10:41:51 PM

According to Paul Ryan, three out of four of Mitt Romney's children are murderers because they used IVF to conceive children.

That's 75%! Mitt Romney's like a murder factory!

8/25/2012 4:47:40 AM

8/25/2012 10:08:16 AM

Quote :

"“I’m very proud of my pro-life record, and I’ve always adopted the idea that, the position that the method of conception doesn’t change the definition of life""

- Paul Ryan.

Rape is just a, "method of conception".

8/25/2012 10:24:34 AM

8/25/2012 10:38:14 AM

^^ I tend to agree with that position. What's important is at what point you are dealing with a human life. At some point WAY before birth, I think it's pretty clear that we are talking about an unborn human being, and the fact that the conception was via rape is immaterial.

Now, that said, I don't think that point is at conception or very early on, at which point you just have a clump of a few cells that really has no characteristics of a human being other than at the DNA level.

My position would be to allow more or less unrestricted medical (chemical) abortions in the very early stages of pregnancy. After that, you have a baby on your hands, and you should have been more expeditious in figuring out what to do. I would make concessions after that for the life of or serious health risks to the mother, but not rape or incest.



Also, I think there is clearly a big difference between forcible rape (to include women rendered unconscious by roofies, etc) and statutory rape, "I had a few drinks and wished the next I hadn't done that-rape", etc. Not saying those things are OK, but they are not the same thing, and it's silly to act like there are no distinctions.

That said, Rep Akin is a complete moron. Aside from about the clumsiest wording imaginable, the idea that pregnancy doesn't result from violent, forcible rape is one of the dumbest things I've heard.

Quote :

"even when both parties are consenting and at peak fertility (for the time of month/lifespan), the rate of conception is around 8 percent (last I checked). So, at a maximum, pregnancy as a result of rape is at 8 percent. When you factor in that many rape victims are not at peak fertility, that 8 percent rate goes down. "

Minor point--the 8% figure is already accounting for the fact that on a given day, a randomly selected person is not at peak fertility. That's why it's 8%.

(I don't know whether or not that 8% figure is accurate, but your last statement is already priced in).

8/25/2012 11:15:55 AM

Maybe we should classify sperm as soldiers and vaginas as houses...

Quote :

"No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

8/25/2012 11:57:49 AM

Joke or serious, that is one of the dumbest statements I've ever put forth.

8/25/2012 1:35:17 PM

^^^Really?

AHA, I've been reassuring my OMG-I'm-pregnant friends with the bit about 8-percent-at-peak-fertility for well over a decade.

8/25/2012 7:04:26 PM

8/27/2012 12:43:56 PM

Dear C:

I was completely wrong to use the term "legitimate" and "rape" in the same sentence. There is no rape that is legitimate. What I said was ill-conceived, wrong and it hurt people. For that I apologize. I was also wrong when I said women's bodies have a way to stave off pregnancy in the event of "legitimate rape." I was misinformed, and I recognize that. However, I do not apologize for my belief in being pro-life and the protection of the unborn.

I appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts with me. Please feel free to contact my office in the future if I may be of assistance.

Sincerely,

Todd Akin
Member of Congress

[Edited on August 27, 2012 at 1:11 PM. Reason : .]

8/27/2012 1:11:21 PM

This is the worst instance in which my name has come up in a vanity search.

9/7/2012 2:58:12 PM

set em up

9/7/2012 3:06:07 PM