The Radicalism of Akin and Romney  Since yesterday morning,
political conversation has been dominated by the comments of
Todd Akin, a (formerly) obscure Missouri congressman and
Republican candidate for Senate. "First of all, from what I
understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare,”
Akin told local reporters, explaining his absolute opposition to
abortion, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways
to try to shut that whole thing down.”   Captured in these words
is a constellation of ugly ideas about women, beginning with the
ludicrous belief that some rapes are “legitimate,” others
fake, and that through some undiscovered mechanism, the female
body will prevent implantation in the case of the former.
Indeed, his statement betrays the extent to which Akin isn’t
concerned with life—of either the fetus or the mother.  The
distinction between “illegitimate” and “legitimate” rape only
makes sense if you understand it as a distinction between women
who have sex and women who have sex “fo