Many, many others have more piquant and interesting things to say about Mr. Akin and his "mis-statement".
I will say this; I've been around many people who believe this way, and the concept of "legitimate rape" is a big deal to them. He believed this so adamantly that he simply uttered it as he would when he was with "his people", the true believers. I've heard others say things very, very similar to Mr. Akin's dumbass attack.
Simply put, the belief is this:
A woman cannot conceive a child during a rape because she isn't enjoying it, and that prevents the body from allowing conception. This is, of course, completely wrong and has no scientific backing whatsoever. (Although you can find an interesting attempt at it here. Misogyny by mathematics.) This is far from the only departure from medical reality you'll find in those circles.
BUT... there is an unspoken corollary. If she did get pregnant then it wasn't rape; it means she enjoyed it (a sin in and of itself)... and sluts should not be allowed to abort their baby. Which is really what this is all about, but we'll leave that for another time.
Mr. Akin has released a clarification... not that this will really help him a great deal. You see, he didn't mean "legitimate" - he meant "forcible". Which means you will need evidence of, of course, or - we're terribly sorry - the lady will simply have to have their rapist's baby. Unsurprisingly, the fact that resisting will, at times, get the victim killed seems to have been missed here.
But the most annoying aspect of this is that this belief system is very common amongst the religious right.
They believe that women are just being hysterical, and are simply "crying rape" after they regret a one night stand. That the victim should feel blessed because all babies are a gift from God - some of them just come in rape-y gift wrapping.
So, if you have daughters, remember that a vote for Paul Ryan is a vote for your daughter - or your niece or your sister - being forced to carry their rapist's baby to term. Keep in mind that the father of the child will very likely have visitation rights. I am not fucking joking.
What has really happened here is Akin has spoken the unspoken beliefs of the religious right. It doesn't stop here, either; we've already seen them attacking access to birth control earlier this year. I'm sure we'll see more of this kind of lunacy in the near future.
Addendum: As usual, The Onion has it right.
Edit: Please comment on Facebook, not here.
