Why it's so important for rape to be 'legitimate'
"Akin's comments, which have led panicked Republicans to call for him to drop out of the race lest his misogynist toxicity metastasize to infect the Romney/Ryan ticket and Republicans across the nation, centered around two atrocities: first, the absurd idea that female reproductive anatomy can shut down in response to rape and somehow prevent conception; and second, the use of the term "legitimate rape" to describe the circumstances under which a woman's magic ovaries would somehow initiate the aforementioned shutdown of reproductive capacity. Taken together, the comments as a whole were designed to justify Akin's opposition to any exemptions for abortion, even in cases of rape or incest: After all, per Akin's logic, if a woman gets raped, she won't get pregnant; so if she's pregnant, well, no exemption is required."
