Wake Up: It's Not Just Akin

The truth about Rep. Todd Akin's "legitimate rape" remark is that it provides another disturbing glimpse into the viewpoint of too many social conservatives about women's health and reproductive rights, L.Z. Granderson writes in a piece at CNN. 

The truth is the "legitimate rape" comment made by U.S. Rep. Todd Akin — as in pregnancy from "legitimate rape" is rare — is not a GOP anomaly but rather another disturbing glimpse into the viewpoint too many social conservatives have about women's health and reproductive rights. And if abortion is not among the "real issues," why is the GOP platform committee considering adding a ban, with no mention of exceptions, to this year's to-do list?

Last March, in a discussion in the Kansas House about whether women purchase separate abortion-only policies, Republican state Rep. Pete DeGraaf suggested women should plan ahead for rape the way he keeps a spare tire. A few weeks later, Indiana state Rep. Eric Turner, a Republican, said some women might fake being raped in order to get free abortions.

Former presidential hopeful Rick Santorum suggested doctors who perform an abortion on a woman who becomes pregnant from an attack should be thrown in jail and this year suggested rape victims who become pregnant from an attack should be forced to keep the baby and "make the best out of a bad situation."

Read L.Z. Granderson's entire piece at CNN.

The Root aims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.