go unreported because of men like Akin. We have no actual statistics on rape because of this. Women feel they won't be believed and Akin just made it that much worse for women. If this is the kind of "protection" Christian men are presumably offering women, you can keep it. Apologies are not magical spells. They only have a chance to work if the person shows by actions s/he means them. Akin already showed by his past actions that his words were no 'slip of the tongue' but a representation of what he really thinks. For any chance of forgiving he'd have to recant his entire position and do serious work to undo the influence of his past politics wrt rape and abortion. JW, I think Akin very accurately described what he really thinks and feels about the issue of rape and abortion. I'm not buying his apology because I find his position to be ignorant and morally reprehensible. When people make these apologies, how stupid do they think we are? I can tell the difference between a sentiment that was expressed badly but was not, in and of itself, something I would find offensive and disagree with, and one where it's really the viewpoint and the falsehoods used to prop it up that is the problem. An apology has to be meaningful. Akin isn't changing his mind, and he's not doing the least that he should do -- admitting that he made statements that are not supported by medical