Missouri Congressman Todd Akin said he is staying in the race for the U.S. Senate despite repeated calls from fellow Republicans to bow out over his comments on rape and abortion.
Akin, an incumbent Republican member of the House of Representatives who is running against Democrat Clair McCaskill, sparked outrage earlier this week when he told KTVI in St. Louis that, as he understood it, it is rare for a woman to become pregnant from “legitimate rape,” as “The female body has ways to try and shut that whole thing down.” Akin was answering a question from a journalist with regard to his opinions on abortion.
Akin has since apologized for his comments, but not until after a media firestorm erupted over the past three days with condemnations from women's groups and supporters of reproductive rights. National party leaders called for him to step down, and some members of the GOP right here in Connecticut are distancing themselves from Akin and his remarks.
"Rep. Akin's remarks concerning the 'legitimacy' of rape are outrageous and intolerable," said Steve Obsitnik, a Republican candidate for the Fourth Congressional District in Connecticut. "His beliefs are an affront to victims, and all women, and do not reflect the views of the party I'm running to represent.”
Connecticut U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon told The New Haven Register that Akin’s remarks were “reprehensible.”
On Tuesday, the deadline to withdraw passed in Missouri, meaning Akin is here to stay as the Republican’s Senate candidate in that state, the Christian Science Monitor reported.
But now the question remains what effect his comments could have on Republicans going forward and in the November election.
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