Mo. Rep. Akin: Pregnancy in rape 'really rare'

ST. LOUIS -- Rep. Todd Akin, the conservative Republican candidate for U.S. Senate from Missouri, said in a television interview aired Sunday that it is "really rare" for women to become pregnant when they are raped.

Akin, a six-term congressman running against incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill, was asked in an interview on St. Louis television station KTVI if there were any circumstances in which he would support a woman's decision to have an abortion.

Akin, who has said he's Missouri's most conservative congressman, indicated there may be an exception to his stance against abortion.

But, when asked whether he supported abortions for women who have been raped, he said: "It seems to me, first of all from 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 [possible pregnancy] down."

He also said he would prefer that punishment for rape be focused on the rapist and not "attacking the child."

Akin was interviewed on KTVI's "The Jaco Report" last week and also talked about other issues, such as voter ID laws, the economy and Medicare.

An Akin spokesman, Steve Taylor, declined to comment yesterday, saying he had not yet seen the interview. The station posted the video on its website.

McCaskill, who is seeking a second term, said in an emailed statement that she found the comments "offensive."

"It is beyond comprehension that someone can be so ignorant about the emotional and physical trauma brought on by rape," she said. "The ideas that Todd Akin has expressed about the serious crime of rape and the impact on its victims are offensive."

McCaskill also quickly took to Twitter to decry Akin's comments, saying that "as a woman & former prosecutor who handled 100s of rape cases, I'm stunned by Rep Akin's comments about victims this AM."

Akin won his primary Aug. 7 by a comfortable margin. He had enhanced his standing with TV ads in which former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee praised him as "a Bible-based Christian" who "supports traditional marriage" and "defends the unborn."