Somaily Nieves / Contributing writer
Abortion has been a controversial issue for many years and while this election year is no different, Rep. Todd Akin has added a new and controversial wrinkle to the debate.
Akin, Missouri’s Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, caught the attention of some students when he made comments about the issue in an interview broadcast on St. Louis television station KTVI on August 19.
“It seems to me first of all, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare,” Akin said, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
Grace Ingabire, a junior studying biology, was outraged by his comments.
“I don’t know what is going on with him but, I mean every woman knows nobody wants to be raped you know and to tell somebody, ‘Oh your body is going to automatically shut down if the conception wasn’t right.’ That doesn’t make sense.”
She said that rape victims who decide to abort shouldn’t be judged.
“I mean for women it’s a hard choice especially if you’ve been raped…it’s not the kids fault but you’ve been through this really, really bad experience.”
The source to Akin’s statement was John C. Willke, a general physician who wrote an article published in Life Issues Connector on April 1999 titled “Rape Pregnancies Are Rare.” In the article, he explained how rare it is for a woman who is sexually assaulted to become pregnant.
“To get and stay pregnant, a woman’s body must produce a very sophisticated mix of hormones,” Willke wrote. “Hormone production is controlled by a part of the brain that is easily influenced by emotions. There’s no greater emotional trauma that can be experienced by a woman than an assault rape. This can radically upset her possibility of ovulation, fertilization, implantation and even nurturing of a pregnancy.”
According to an article published in The New York Times on Aug. 20, experts on reproductive health dismissed this logic.
Nathaly Ossa, senior studying biology, psychology and criminal justice, agrees that Akin’s comments did not make sense.
“You don’t need to be educated to know that our body can’t know whether or not it’s…a legitimate pregnancy or not,” she said.
Ossa said that girls as young as 9 or 10 years old can be victims of rape. These young girls may not be physically or emotionally capable of giving birth to the child.
Other students believe abortion isn’t the answer.
Jimmy Pertil, junior studying biology and president of the Impact Movement, said that Akin was “totally wrong because it offends women around the world.”
But Pertil is against abortion even in the case of rape.
“I’m a Christian and…I truly believe that if you do get raped and get pregnant, abortion is not the option,” he said. “Instead, you can give your child up for adoption.”
Sharon Aaron, licensed clinical social worker and director of the Victim Advocacy Center at the University, said that what was most distressing about Akin’s comments was that it gave the idea that women are responsible for being raped.
“‘Legitimate rape’ is only seen as this stranger jumping out of the bushes with a weapon. And it’s also still only seen as, if a woman puts up a fight,” she said.
Aaron said that according to Florida law the victim does not need to prove that she or he fought back. The victim needs only to prove lack of consent.
The VAC helps students who have “experienced actual or threatened violence.”
Students don’t need to pay for the service at the center because it is covered by the health fee. The center keeps the identity of students who look for help confidential.
Aaron said that the center does “whatever it takes to get that person re-stabilized. So they can regain and recover their normal functioning.”
Akin later clarified that he “misspoke” during the interview and it didn’t reveal his true feelings on the matter, but the damage was already done. His words offended many victims of rape.
Aaron said that only when people are informed about issues like abortion and rape society will “stop re-traumatizing people and restricting their access to care.”
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