Claim: U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin was "partly right" that a woman's body has a way of shutting down so that a pregnancy doesn't occur if she's raped.
Verdict: REFUTES

Retrieved passages:
title: Phil Gingrey
text: he was reported saying that former Republican representative Todd Akin was "partially right" in saying that a woman would not conceive after a "legitimate rape." Akin had been running for the U.S. Senate from Missouri; his campaign fell apart after he said the debunked claim that "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." At a local Chamber of Commerce meeting, Gingrey said that Akin wasn't entirely wrong. "I've delivered lots of babies, and I know about these things," Gingrey said, according to "The Marietta Daily Journal". Gingrey has been an OB-GYN since 1975. He

title: Rape and pregnancy statement controversies in United States elections, 2012
text: this is a rarity, if ever." In 1998, Arkansas state senator Fay Boozman lost a campaign for a US Senate seat after saying that fear-induced hormonal changes made rape victims unlikely to become pregnant. Todd Akin, a long-time anti-abortion activist, served as a Republican member of the House of Representatives for Missouri's 2nd congressional district from 2001 until 2013. On August 7, 2012, Akin won the Republican primary to become his party's nominee for the U.S. Senate election in Missouri. On August 19, Akin said that victims of what he termed "legitimate rape" rarely become pregnant. He said this during

title: Todd Akin
text: for them. The fact is, rape can lead to pregnancy. The truth is, rape has many victims. The mistake I made was in the words I said, not in the heart I hold. I ask for your forgiveness. The incident was seen as having an impact on Akin's senate race and the Republicans' chances of gaining a majority in the U.S. Senate, by making news in the week before the 2012 Republican National Convention and by "shift[ing] the national discussion to divisive social issues that could repel swing voters rather than economic issues that could attract them". Before the comments,

title: 2012 United States Senate election in Missouri
text: are "legitimate", or, alternatively, that victims who do become pregnant from rape are likely to be lying about their claims. His claims about the likelihood of pregnancy resulting from rape were widely seen as being based on long-discredited pseudoscience, with experts seeing the claims as lacking medical validity. Akin was not the first to make such claims, but was perhaps one of the most prominent. While some voices such as Iowa congressman Steve King supported Akin, senior figures in both parties condemned his remarks and some Republicans called for him to resign. In the resulting furor, Akin received widespread calls

title: 2012 United States Senate elections
text: the likelihood of pregnancy resulting from rape were widely seen as being based on long-discredited pseudoscience with experts seeing the claims as lacking any basis of medical validity. Akin was not the first to make such claims, but was perhaps one of the most prominent. While some voices such as Iowa congressman Steve King supported Akin, senior figures in both parties condemned his remarks and some Republicans called for him to resign. In the resulting furor, Akin received widespread calls to drop out of his Senate race from both Republicans and Democrats. Akin apologized after making the comment, saying he

title: 2012 United States Senate elections
text: "Human Nature" estimated that rapes are twice as likely to result in pregnancies as consensual sex. (See also pregnancy from rape.) The incident was seen as having an impact on Akin's senate race and the Republicans' chances of gaining a majority in the U.S. Senate, by making news in the week before the 2012 Republican National Convention and by "shift[ing] the national discussion to divisive social issues that could repel swing voters rather than economic issues that could attract them". Akin, along with other Republican candidates with controversial positions on rape, lost due to backlash from women voters. On October

title: 2012 United States elections
text: by a number of socially conservative Republican candidates regarding issues regarding rape, pregnancy, and abortion, bringing these issues to the forefront. The first most notable was Republican House Representative Todd Akin of Missouri, who was the Republican nominee for a U.S. Senate seat. He stated that pregnancy from rape rarely occurs as a result of what he referred to as "legitimate rape." Akin's comments had a far-reaching political impact, changing a focus of campaigns across the country onto the so-called "War on Women." Another widely covered comment was that of Indiana State Treasurer and U.S. Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, who

title: Todd Akin
text: real and awful and others that are not". Others took exception to the phrasing because it suggests that the victims who do become pregnant from rape may be lying. His claims about the likelihood of pregnancy resulting from rape were seen by some as being based on fringe ideas like stress-induced miscarriage or Dr. John C. Willke's "spastic tubes" theory introduced in 1985 and trauma-based theory introduced in 1999. These theories are not accepted by the majority of the scientific and medical community. Akin was not the first to make such claims, but was perhaps one of the most recently

title: Pregnancy from rape
text: that's really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." The comment was widely criticized, and Akin apologized, saying he "misspoke". Akin's suggestion that rape is unlikely to result in pregnancy was defended by some prominent individuals and groups which oppose legal abortion. A SurveyUSA poll one day after Akin's comments reported that 76% of Missouri adults disagreed with Akin, 13% agreed with the statement and 11% were unsure (±3.8%). Pregnancy from rape Pregnancy is a potential result of rape. It has been studied in the context of war,

title: 2012 United States Senate elections
text: abortion on August 19, 2012, Akin made the claim that women victims of what he described as "legitimate rape" rarely experience pregnancy from rape. In an interview aired on St. Louis television station KTVI-TV, Aiken was asked his views on whether women who became pregnant due to rape should have the option of abortion. He replied: Well you know, people always want to try to make that as one of those things, well how do you, how do you slice this particularly tough sort of ethical question. First of all, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare. If

title: Rape and pregnancy statement controversies in United States elections, 2012
text: Following Todd Akin's comments, reporters at the Pennsylvania Press Club asked Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Tom Smith on August 27, 2012, how, considering his no-exceptions anti-abortion stance, he would tell a daughter or granddaughter who had been raped that she must keep the pregnancy. Smith said that he had been in a similar situation because his daughter had become pregnant out of wedlock. He said that he was not equating the two situations but that a father's position was similar. "Salon" said, "If you believe pregnancy from rape and pregnancy from sex out of marriage are 'similar', then you implicitly

title: Todd Akin
text: what I understand from doctors, that's really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let's assume that maybe that didn't work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child. The comments from Akin, which came as he ran for the U.S. Senate seat held by Claire McCaskill, almost immediately led to widespread uproar. The term "legitimate rape" was called "loathsome" because it suggests that "there are different categories of rape — some

title: Rape and pregnancy statement controversies in United States elections, 2012
text: be so ignorant about the emotional and physical trauma brought on by rape". Democratic members started a petition to remove Akin from the science committee. Despite intense pressure to step aside, Akin resolved to remain in the race. On "The Sean Hannity Show", he said he, "was calling you and letting you know that I'm announcing today that we're [staying] in." On the "Mike Huckabee Show" he said, "Rape is never legitimate ... I used the wrong words in the wrong way." A national poll conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion showed that 84% of Americans disagreed with Akin's comments

title: 2012 United States Senate elections
text: it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let's assume that maybe that didn’t work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child. The comments from Akin almost immediately led to uproar, with the term "legitimate rape" being taken to imply belief in a view that some kinds of rape are "legitimate", or alternatively that the many victims who do become pregnant from rape are likely to be lying about their claim. His claims about

title: Rape and pregnancy statement controversies in United States elections, 2012
text: Rape and pregnancy statement controversies in United States elections, 2012 During the 2012 United States election cycle, in federal and state elections, a series of controversies arose as a result of statements by Republican Party candidates about rape, pregnancy, contraception, abortion, and related topics. The first and most widely covered controversy concerned Republican U.S. Senate candidate Representative Todd Akin of Missouri, who stated that pregnancy rarely occurs as a result of what he called "legitimate rape". Medical experts said Akin's statement is false, and many women's rights groups found the phrase "legitimate rape" demeaning. Akin's comments had a far-reaching political

title: Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues
text: reversal in the early 1970s, by backing away from legal equality and not accepting the Supreme Court's stance on abortion rights. These issues didn't create a gender gap at the time, but did create a perception that Democrats were reaching out to women as constituents and Republicans were not. In 2012, Republican Representative Todd Akin suggested a woman's body would prevent pregnancy from a "legitimate rape" and Richard E. Mourdock lost his Senate race in Indiana after saying it was "God's Will" when pregnancy resulted from rape. Comments like this, and other conservative policy agendas, like defunding Planned Parenthood, make

title: 2012 United States Senate election in Missouri
text: of Commerce and hosted by television station KSDK, public radio station KWMU and the St. Louis Business Journal. While making remarks on rape and abortion on August 19, 2012, Akin made the claim that women victims of what he described as "legitimate rape" rarely experience pregnancy from rape. In an interview aired on St. Louis television station KTVI-TV, Aiken was asked his views on whether women who became pregnant due to rape should have the option of abortion. He replied: Well you know, people always want to try to make that as one of those things, well how do you,

title: Rape and pregnancy statement controversies in United States elections, 2012
text: about "legitimate rape", and that 63% wanted him to drop out of the U.S. Senate race. Akin's comments were widely thought to be the main reason he lost the senatorial election. Exit polls reported that 64% of voters said that Akin's comment was important in their voting decision, and among those voters 74% voted for Claire McCaskill while 18% voted for Akin. According to Jennifer Haberkorn of "Politico", Akin lost his election bid because of a backlash from women voters. A poll released on August 23 by Rasmussen Reports showed a steep drop in support for Akin among Missouri voters;

title: 2012 United States Senate election in Indiana
text: myself for a long time but I came to realize: "Life is that gift from God that I think even if life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen". Media speculated that this could affect the outcome of the Senate race and Presidential race and multiple sources noted the similarities with the Todd Akin rape and pregnancy comment controversy. Responding to the criticism, Mourdock issued a statement saying: "God creates life, and that was my point. God does not want rape, and by no means was I suggesting that he does.

title: Rape and pregnancy statement controversies in United States elections, 2012
text: that being a circumstance that's been brought to me in any personal way, and I'd be open to discussion about that subject matter." King's comments were condemned by multiple sources, and others drew attention to their similarity to Akin's remarks. Controversy over Akin's comments ignited again after the election, when fellow Republican Representative Phil Gingrey, who is also an obstetrician, said Akin's comments were "partly right" when he said women's bodies can avoid pregnancy in cases of rape. Gingrey also said that he "delivered lots of babies" and "[knew] about these things". Gingrey also said he found nothing wrong with