Todd Akin In 2008: Doctors Give Abortions To Women Who Aren't Pregnant (VIDEO)

[TroyD]

The Huffington Post

10/03/2012

Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin sparked national outrage in August when he justified his opposition to abortion by claiming that victims of "legitimate rape" rarely get pregnant because "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." However, the Republican congressman's now-infamous remarks are not the first time he's made a scientifically questionable statement on abortion.

As Slate's Amanda Marcotte reported Tuesday, Akin gave a speech on the House floor in 2008 denouncing abortion providers as "terrorists," claiming that they sometimes perform abortions on women who "are not actually pregnant":

"It is no big surprise that we fight the terrorists because they are fundamentally un-American, and yet we have terrorists in our own culture called abortionists. One of the good pieces of news why we are winning this war is because there are not enough heartless doctors being graduated from medical schools. There is a real shortage of abortionists. Who wants to be at the very bottom of the food chain of medical profession? And what sort of places do these bottom-of-the-food-chain doctors work in? Places that are really a pit. You find that along with the culture of death go all kinds of other law-breaking: not following good sanitary procedure, giving abortions to women who are not actually pregnant, cheating on taxes, all these kinds of things, misuse of anesthetics so that people die or almost die."

Akin's allegation of doctors performing abortions on non-pregnant women is particularly puzzling, since, by definition, an abortion cannot be performed if there is no pregnancy to terminate.

More:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/02/todd-akin-abortion-providers_n_1934305.html

[theKed]

1. .

I...wait, what?

Is this guy for real?

[SheilaT]

2. And he knows that doctors are giving

abortions to women who are not actually pregnant . . . how?

[anneboleyn]

15. Yes, that would be quite a feat, wouldn't it? Like some righty sort of performance art.

[Scootaloo]

3. It makes sense...

In a mind that believes there is an "abortion industry."

After all, a business wants you to buy their product even if you don't need it, right? If you honestly, truly think that "abortion is big business," then it stands to reason you think providers have the same outlook of just performing "abortions" on any woman, any time.

[TroyD]

4. I assume Claire McCaskill's campaign will draw attention to it tomorrow now that this video is out.

But Akin can still win.

He's now getting money & support from high-profile GOPers.

And he was behind by only 1 point in a poll posted here earlier today.

Those that can, please volunteer to help McCaskill's campaign.

[Tx4obama]

5. Quick! Take a look at the current front page of HuffPo - top story/headline now

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

Looks like EVERYONE will be hearing about it tomorrow for sure

[JDPriestly]

6. He is an idiot. Women have D&Cs for many reasons. They are not always abortions.

He is not the first man to make this mistake. A Catholic priest once made it with me.

That is why men who are not medical professionals should not offer their opinions about how women should make their healthcare decisions. In particular, Akin should refrain from discussing anything having to do with women. I feel sorry for his wife assuming he has one. But then, she may be as ignorant as he is. Quite possible.

[TroyD]

7. He is indeed married, and his wife is a big part of his campaign

She made some news herself a few weeks ago when she said her family feels like it has been raped and made some other allusions to a Revolution or something.

[davidn3600]

8. Is he maybe talking about fraud?

You know how like how hospitals or doctors will bill insurance for procedures that are not needed or even never performed?

Im just trying to make sense of this.

[gkhouston]

13. No, he's conflating a procedure used for abortion (D&C) with an actual abortion.

Using his logic, I had an "abortion" shortly after giving birth. Guess I'd better tell my daughter I aborted her "twin".

[VespertineIconoclast]

9. I weep for this country sometimes....

It's a shame that a portion of our population is so uneducated as to elect such ignorant people to office who create the policies, regulations, and laws that affect us all.

Akin I know is not alone in his ignorance; he just happens to be one of the few who confidently spouts this garbage to anyone who will listen. I wish the Congress was made up of more people from a mixture of backgrounds with expertise in different fields like multidisciplinary teams found in hospitals with individuals working together for some benefit for patients. Instead, we have these imbeciles who believe they know EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING.

I feel frightened for the women of this country. I'm afraid that we're going to go back to those horrible days of the past where desperate women will get unsafe abortions that cost them there lives and these Rethug politicians will not care. We're going to see a rise in maternal mortality and women will not have power or a say in what happens to their own bodies....

[TroyD]

10. 'It's a shame that a portion of our population is so uneducated'

That's the way the Republicans want it (eg. Rick Santorum).

There's a reason they don't want people going to college.

[VespertineIconoclast]

11. Agreed.

It's the reason these Repukes don't want to fund our schools. They don't believe in the many having access to a good education.

The Repubs have done an excellent job of making sure that people are paying attention to fringe issues and not paying to the real issues that make a difference in people's lives.

[hamsterjill]

12. Todd Akin. This is what you get when sex education is removed from school curriculum

Seriously, has this man ever even taken basic biology? The stupidity is simply amazing.

[ehrnst]

14. Is that like performing an autopsy on people who aren't dead? (nt)

[beac]

16. More like performing a hysterectomy on a man. n/t

[TroyD]

17. Bumping thread n/t