Full disclosure. I hate abortion. I will never get one. I'm a man. I'm married to a woman. She hates abortion and says she will never get one. I was snipped a year or so ago, so it isn't a concern with us. We have daughters. We (I, more than my wife) want the option open in case of rape or health of the mother. Really, I am against the whole notion of outlawing abortion. I don't like the politics around it. It's all about controlling another person's life, mostly for religious reasons.
But I don't like writing about abortion. I don't really care about it. I like to write about women. And Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin has riled my feathers.
First of all, as everyone who watches or reads the news now knows, Akin claimed that women can have two types of rape - legitimate and illegitimate. He didn't specifically state that, but he did specifically say "legitimate rape", which leads anyone to conclude the dichotomous "other".
He then goes on to say that a woman that is legitimately raped has certain bodily mechanisms that naturally abort the baby or prevent a woman from even getting pregnant at all. While this may be true (no study has shown this to be the case yet), it is actually quite a meaningless position to hold. It makes no difference. In fact, it muddies the waters and even sets a dangerous precedence.
Let's say a woman is raped and gets pregnant. If we listen to Akin, we can assume two things:
1. The rape was not a legitimate rape and she willingly allowed it to happen, thus causing her body's natural aborting abilities to not work their magic. She must have the child.
2. She deserves the baby because God's natural plan was that she must carry the vile sperm to fruition. She must have the child.
The problem goes even deeper. As much as Akin may say he cares for life, he really doesn't give a flying crap about women or children after they're born. Look at his other policies that he supports, being on the GOP ticket. If that woman's baby, that he forced her to have, does come to full term, he is perfectly willing to deny that woman and the child the services necessary in life, provided by a far-reaching and capable national and state government. No, they must strike out on their own and live a life with no assistance in the GOP utopia.
"But, by GOD! We'll never let them choose to NOT have a child! They HAVE to have the baby and then enjoy the consequences of their decisions!"
But wait...the woman didn't decide to get raped. She just got raped. Oh wait...oops. Do you see it now? Their body didn't abort the child so the physiological decision was decided FOR her and she now has to live with her "decision".
I hope Todd Akin loses. We don't need his kind in government. We need people who care for people - all people.
