because that, to me, is the essential. when people recoil at what todd akin said, i mean, some of it is obviously because of his incredibly, this kind of medieval language, and also this kind of impugning the honor of women who have gotten pregnant through rape, kind of implying that they weren t really raped. that they must be lying about what really happened. but the other piece of it that has so many people up in arms is that he s made really clear what many, many republicans believe. which, again, is that if you are raped and you get pregnant, as tens of thousands of women every year in this country do, the most reliable study i ve seen from the american journal of obstetrics and gynecology puts it around 30,000 women a year in the united states, that the government should force you to carry that pregnancy to term against your will. goldie, does this open a window into republican thinking, that for those of us who think that abortion should be available, not just for rape victims
legitimate. what did you mean by legitimate rape? were you attempting to say forcible rape or was that just where did that come from? well, yeah, i was talking about forcible rape, and it was absolutely the wrong word. yeah. rape experts, todd akin, and mike huckabee today, continuing the extreme right s strategy of deciding what rape is. in the spotlight tonight, a history of republicans attempting to redefine rape. the idea that a rape survivor can t get pregnant is not new. a report in the guardian today traced it back to the 13th century, but here are some more modern examples. in 1988, a pennsylvania state legislature said that the chances of a rape survivor getting pregnant are, quote, 1 in millions and millions and millions, because rape causes women to, quote, his words,
overturn roe v. wade and turn to the states that authority. but if the congress got there, we had that kind of consensus in that country, terrific. mitt romney pretended to be outraged by akin s remarks today. his comments about rape were deeply offensive. and i can t defend what he said. i can t defend him. do you think for the benefit of the party, sir, he should drop out? well, the thing he should consider is what s in the best interests of the things he believes most deeply, what will help the country at this critical time. other republicans are urging akin to leave the race, including paul ryan, who called akin personally. also urging akin to drop out, fox news sean hannity, the conservative national review, republican party chairman, reince priebus, senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell, senator scott brown, senator john cornyn, who is chairman of the senate republican senate
were the many qualifiers that we ve been hearing about rape. whether it is incest or forcible or assault or, you know, legitimate. rape, as i said last night, rape, as the president said today, is rape. it does not matter, as long as the woman is not able to or does not give consent, everything happens after that is just plain horrible. and to place qualifiers on it, i think, disqualifies somebody from holding public office. michelle goldberg, imagine for me, if you will, the day after the vice presidential debate, if martha raddatz does not ask paul ryan what is forcible rape. no, i mean, i also certainly hope that they will ask him, you know, how he justifies his belief that rape victims, whether forcible or otherwise, should be forced to carry any resulting pregnancy to term against their will.
on his friend, todd akin today, but congressman akin still has some supporters. the president of the family research counsel action pac, connie mackey said today, qu to akin is getting a very bad break here. we support him fully and completely. paul ryan is scheduled to speak to that group next month at the value voters summit. joining me now are msnbc s steve kornacki and karen finney. karen finney, paul ryan is desperately trying to flip-flop today on his position and his history on abortion. is it even possible, instantaneously, in one day, to suddenly flip over to what is the new romney campaign position of, oh, okay, abortion in the case of rape cases, that s okay with us. you know, actually, lawrence, i think it s a little bit more cynical and sinister than that. because i think they re actually not completely flipping their