Remember Todd Akin? He was the far-right Missouri Republican who insanely claimed, back in August 2012, “that victims of what he described as “legitimate rape” very rarely become pregnant.” In fact:
“The comment was widely characterized as misogynistic and recklessly inaccurate, with many commentators remarking on the use of the words “legitimate rape”. Related news articles cited a 1996 article in an obstetrics and gynecology journal, which found that 5% of women who were raped became pregnant, which equaled about 32,000 pregnancies each year in the US alone.[68] A separate 2003 article in the journal Human Nature estimated that rapes are twice as likely to result in pregnancies as consensual sex.”
Now obviously, these comments were completely abhorrent and disgusting, causing a very justifiable firestorm and backlash. The result politically? “Before the comments, Akin had been favored to win his race against McCaskill, but he lost in November, 54.7 percent to 39.2 percent.” Which, of course, is exactly what SHOULD happen to anyone holding such noxious, unhinged views.
Well now, sad to say, Virginia has its own Todd Akin equivalent – in the person of VA07 extremist Republican nominee Yesli Vega. As you read the following scoop from Axios Richmond, keep in mind that Vega is an extremist in every other way as well, for instance (falsely) claiming that the 1/6/21 violent insurrection/coup attempt “was actually a group of Americans exercising their 1st amendment rights and as a result of doing that they’ve been persecuted, shamed, forced out of their jobs, forced to retire”; and also stating that “our right to keep and bear arms must never be infringed”; that we should “respect and celebrate” (!!!) the extremist Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade; that there’s supposedly an “abortion pipeline primarily in minority communities”‘; etc. With that, here are Vega’s Todd Akin-like comments, as reported by Axios Richmond:
At an event in Stafford County, Vega, a Prince William County supervisor and sheriff’s deputy, was asked what she thinks Congress should do if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
After expressing support for new state-level restrictions, she said, “The left will say, ‘Well what about in cases of rape or incest?’ I’m a law enforcement officer. I became a police officer in 2011. I’ve worked one case where as a result of a rape, the young woman became pregnant.”
Vega was then asked, “I’ve actually heard that it’s harder for a woman to get pregnant if she’s been raped. Have you heard that?”
Vega responded: “Well, maybe because there’s so much going on in the body. I don’t know. I haven’t, you know, seen any studies. But if I’m processing what you’re saying, it wouldn’t surprise me. Because it’s not something that’s happening organically. You’re forcing it. The individual, the male, is doing it as quickly — it’s not like, you know — and so I can see why there is truth to that. It’s unfortunate.”
So obviously, this is completely unscientific, ignorant and frankly insane sh*t. Also obviously – or at least it SHOULD be obvious in an even semi-sane world – anyone espousing noxious, appallingly ignorant views like these shouldn’t even be CONSIDERED for public office, let alone for CONGRESS! So obviously, this November, let’s make damned sure we reelect Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA07), preferably by a huge/Akin-esque margin, and that we do the same with every other Akin/Vega-style candidate in Virginia and across America!
🚨What does anti-abortion #VA7 candidate Yesli Vega have in common with the late Todd Akin? She thinks it’s harder to get pregnant from rape. 🤯 @axios https://t.co/XDdf0E1PIi
— Jamie Lockhart #BansOffOurBodies (@jlock) June 27, 2022
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