On Sunday, Rep. Todd Akin (who is competing against incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill), made the following comments about rape and abortion:

“First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy after rape] is really rare,” Akin told KTVI-TV in defense of his stand that rape victims should not be allowed to access abortions. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

“Akin said that even if a rape victim does somehow become pregnant, “I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.”

Within 24 hours after this comment the Left had re-energized their War on Women meme in an attempt to make American voters forget about the high unemployment, insane Debt to GDP ratio and the sword of Damocles hanging over our heads (aka Obama care).  With the lapdog media smelling blood in the water, you can be assured that Akin’s comments will last longer than the typical new cycle gaffe and Republicans will be forced to defend their stance on Abortion and answer questions why they hate women so much.

Before this incredibly ignorant comment, it should be noted that Akin was leading McCaskill in the latest poll by 11 points.  For Conservatives, taking the Senate back is just as important as a Romney victory over Obama because if the Senate road block imposed by Harry Reid remains in 2013, America has little to no hope of restoring our country back to fiscal responsibility and getting our economy humming again with Free Market principles.

Some Conservative pundits have rushed to Akin’s defense and stated that this was a gaffe and should be excused like we do with gaffes by Joe Biden and other Leftists.  While I’m not one to give in to Leftists, I do take pride in the fact that our side should hold our politicos to a higher standard and not give them a free pass when they do something stupid.  That is why I am joining Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown and others in calling for Akin to step down immediately so the Republican Party can put a replacement on the ballot.

I do not support the removal of Akin from the ballot because of Leftist outrage but instead due to the fact that someone making this stupid comment less than 3 months before one of the most important elections we’ve had in the US shows that he is not fit for service.  Is abortion and rape something that we should be debating right now?  No!  Akin is running for US Senate, not some local city council position, and he should understand the gravity of this year’s election and realize how important it is that he beat McCaskill.  If he can’t stay focused in an election that has such monumental consequences then how can we trust he’ll serve in Washington when the white hot glare of the election is over?  This was a rookie mistake and shows that he wasn’t the best candidate for the job. 

But there is another aspect of Akin’s comments that forced me to take another look at my position on Abortion and the more I think about it, the more I believe that people who believe as Akin does – that a woman who becomes pregnant from a rape should be forced to carry the baby to term – are out of touch with reality.

True, Akin has apologized for his stupid remarks but this was such a heinous gaffe that an apology won’t cut it and ,from what I can read, he is only apologizing for using the term “legitimate rape” and still believes that someone who becomes pregnant from a rape should carry the baby to term.

Full disclosure here – I am Pro Life but have always believed that exceptions should be made in the case where a baby threatens the life of the mother and when a woman becomes pregnant as a result of rape.  My opinions have not changed but have only been further reinforced with Akin’s comments. 

Many readers will notice an inconsistency with my logic here and I fully admit to it.  How can I say that abortion is murder in one case but not in the other?

I do believe that terminating a pregnancy is a euphemism for murder at any point past the attachment of the embryo to the uterus.  Abortion is equal to killing a baby in my book, plain and simple, but like all complex issues, there are shades of gray and I’m comfortable exploring them.  

If a baby has a high probability of taking the life of the mother then an abortion is justified in my mind just like I would kill someone who was trying to kill my wife.  Killing a baby in the womb to save the mother is a heart wrenching decision that some parents must face and I can’t imagine that thought process or conversations that occur when a man and a women are presented with this dreadful scenario.  I can’t say for certain what I would’ve done if my wife and I were faced with that decision but I believe that we’d make the decision to end the life of the baby versus ending the life of my wife.  I married my wife and joined in a relationship/covenant with her before God that states, among other things, that we are joined for eternity and in my mind, my wife is the most important person in the world for me and that means she has a higher place than even my kids.  If there is ever a decision to save the life of another versus my wife, I will choose my wife 100% of the time.

But what about when a woman is raped and becomes pregnant?  It is conceivable that a woman’s life would not be threatened from a pregnancy that came about from a rape.  In this scenario I derive my beliefs based on the counsel of my wife and from the fact that I have a daughter.

I have mentioned many times to my Conservative brothers that in matters that involve a women’s body, we should have long, meaningful conversations about these topics with our girl friends or wives and use those conversations to base our opinions.  The conversations I had with my wife added great value to my position on allowing a woman to abort her child in the case of rape and it should be noted that my wife is Pro Choice, and while we disagree on the general evils of abortion, we agree that abortion should be legal for instances where the life of the mother is threatened and in the case of rape.

I have a daughter and if, God forbid, she was raped as a teenager, I could not imagine a situation where I would force her to carry that baby to full term.  If her decision, in concert with my wife’s, were to abort the baby, then I’d be the one to drive her to the clinic and be with her every step of the way.  I would fully support her decision to kill the baby that was conceived in such an evil manner.

In many respects, aborting a baby after a rape could be considered, like in the case where the baby threatens the mother’s life, justifiable homicide because the life of the mother might be in danger for those 9 months she has to carry it.  Rape is an unimaginable evil brought on women by sick men and forcing the woman (or a teenage girl) to carry the baby to term might cause irreparable harm to her life.  It might not be death but it might mean living every day in Hell and that is worse than death.  Yes, abortion in this case would be equivalent to murder of an unborn baby but let me ask the fathers of daughters this question. 

Can any father really say he would prefer to see his daughter suffer for not only 9 months but the rest of her life just so he can say that he is consistent with his Pro Life stance?

As a father of a daughter, I cannot.