Gabrielle Union Talks Women, Todd Akin, & “Legitimate Rape”
Rape survivor, Gabrielle Union has weighed in on Tod Akin’s “legitimate rape,” comment, and she’s not happy.
By now I’m sure you’re aware of the epic shit storm sparked by comments made Missouri Rep. Todd Akin yesterday. In the event that you’ve been living in a bubble and may have missed the controversy, you can read fellow blogger and contributor, The Skeptik One’s take on the absurdity that is his comments here. Akin’s comments were so abhorrent that members of the Republican Party have been distancing themselves from him; and, many have called for him to withdraw from this November’s Senate race.
For Republicans to call for his withdrawal is a bit of a surprise. After all, most Republicans agree with Akin; and, ironically when Rep. Ron Paul made similar comments about “Honest Rape” no such outrage was seen from members of the Republican Party elite. My guess is that this unfortunate comment came a tad bit too close to the elections for some.
Unfortunately for them, Akins isn’t showing any signs of withdrawal from the contest. Akin, a Missouri state Rep running for Senate, while appearing on Jaco Report, said the following as an advocate for making abortion illegal, even if women are victims of rape: “From what I understand from doctors … if it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” I may have missed that particular day in biology class, but I don’t remember learning about a woman’s ovaries being able to detect when sex is consensual, or illegitimate (?).
This from the Washington Post:
Rape Survivor: Gabrielle Union
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (R-Tex.) informed Rep. Todd Akin on Monday that the national GOP will not spend money to help elect him to the Senate after Akin’s controversial comments about “legitimate rape,” according to an NRSC aide.
Cornyn also told Akin that, by staying in the race, he is endangering Republicans’ hopes of retaking the majority in the Senate, the aide said.
Akin had refused to withdraw his Senate campaign earlier Monday as Republicans, hoping to contain damage to the party brand, stampeded away from the staunch anti-abortion Senate candidate after he used the phrase “legitimate rape” in talking about abortion and pregnancy.
Akin, who has become a flash point of the 2012 campaign, responded to Republicans’ calls for him to drop out during an interview Monday with Mike Huckabee on his radio show.
The House member from Missouri apologized, calling his remarks “a very, very serious error.”
“The good people of Missouri nominated me, and I’m not a quitter,” Akin told Huckabee, a Republican and former governor. “My belief is we’re going to take this thing forward. And, by the grace of God, we’re going to win this race. To quote my old friend John Paul Jones: ‘I’ve not yet begun to fight.’ ”
Speaking on MSNBC, film star Gabrielle Union, herself a rape survivor, shared the following:
