A letter to Rep Akin

That is a powerful letter.  I also never even thought about a rapist being able to have custody and visitation rights.  That is just so wrong.  She has a lot of courage to come forward as she did and write this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diane 

That is a powerful letter.  I also never even thought about a rapist being able to have custody and visitation rights.  That is just so wrong.  She has a lot of courage to come forward as she did and write this.

I agree.

Excellent letter.

I still can't believe so many in the GOP support Akin's way of thinking. This is far more mainstream than you think.

I was raped in the college. I went to college in a very conservative part of the state. Because I was walking back from class alone, I was asking for it. He did not get any punishment at all, my grades slipped because I had trouble going to class, and I eventually flunked out. Now I am 38, carrying the scars of the incident, and I will finally graduate from college in December. He graduated that school year and is a successful businessman just two hours away from me, at least the last time I worried about checking. His life went on like nothing happened and mine has been a struggle ever since. Whether a woman gets pregnant or not is moot, these ultra-conservative idiots want to make an already difficult situation, next to impossible to get over.

My best friends' daughter was raped at college just a few months ago. They are pressing charges. She has changed schools. My best friends' husband is a family therapist, so I know they are trying to help her through this as best as possible, but people like these politicians just don't get it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomsgem 

I was raped in the college. I went to college in a very conservative part of the state. Because I was walking back from class alone, I was asking for it. He did not get any punishment at all, my grades slipped because I had trouble going to class, and I eventually flunked out. Now I am 38, carrying the scars of the incident, and I will finally graduate from college in December. He graduated that school year and is a successful businessman just two hours away from me, at least the last time I worried about checking. His life went on like nothing happened and mine has been a struggle ever since. Whether a woman gets pregnant or not is moot, these ultra-conservative idiots want to make an already difficult situation, next to impossible to get over.

I'm so sorry, Misty.  I can't even imagine...

Quote:

Originally Posted by calimari 

Excellent letter.

 

I still can't believe so many in the GOP support Akin's way of thinking. This is far more mainstream than you think.

Who supports him?? As far as I know most of his party has distanced from him and most have asked him to bow out of his race and step down.    I saw him on the today show this morning, and I don't believe he will win, I still don't think he realizes the scope of what he has said or how his insensitve comment hurt so many people. He apologized but I truly don't think thats enough.

I would love to see him volunteer at a crisis center and really SEE what these women go through every day of thier lives, and trying to deal with the physical, emotional scars.

And I HATE that a rapist STILL has rights as a father.  Thats sick!

Wait a minute, he never said that rape wasn't horrific. All he said was he is against abortion, even in the cases of rape. He said that the baby shouldn't have to suffer because of the circumstances of the conception. That is all.

As a conservative, fundamentalist Christian he believed the propaganda from those sources that say that experiencing traumatic stress hampers implantation or can cause spontaneous miscarriage. According to the study Calimari cited, 5% of rapes result in a pregnancy. Of those, about 50% of the women opt to continue the pregnancy. Apparently, Akin thought the percentage was lower.

He knows better now and has apologized.

When he used the word "legitimate" he was trying to differentiate between stranger rape and statutory rape (some of which is illegal but considered consensual).

Can we move on now?