Progressives Call for Rape of Missouri Rep. Todd Akin

Twitchy reports, "Twitter Lynch Mob calls for rape of Rep. Todd Akin."

Also, "Dana Loesch: Stop overreacting to Todd Akin’s comments."

And at the Wall Street Journal, "Missouri Senate Hopeful Steps Back Rape Remarks":

The Republican vying for Democrat Claire McCaskill's Senate seat in Missouri said Sunday that he misspoke during an earlier television interview when he said pregnancies in the case of "legitimate rape" are rare and that women have a biological ability to prevent pregnancy in such cases.

Rep. Todd Akin (R., Mo.), who recently won the GOP primary to run for Ms. McCaskill's seat, made his comments in an interview broadcast Sunday by St. Louis television station KTVI and posted on its website. Mr. Akin was asked about whether abortion should be legal in the case of rape.

"From what I understand from doctors, that's really rare," Mr. Akin said of pregnancy caused by rape. "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let's assume that maybe that didn't work or something…I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child."

In a statement later, Mr. Akin said: "In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it's clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year. Those who perpetrate these crimes are the lowest of the low in our society and their victims will have no stronger advocate in the Senate to help ensure they have the justice they deserve."

Ms. McCaskill, whose seat is widely seen as one of the Democrats' most vulnerable to a GOP pickup, was quick to seize on the issue. Her campaign featured Mr. Akin's earlier comments on its website and sought contributions.

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

Abortion is a key issue for Mr. Akin, a six-term representative from the St. Louis suburbs. In 2011, he supported a bill that would have redefined the circumstances under which some federally funded health-care programs could be used for abortions to include only cases of "forcible rape" as opposed to "rape," which critics said might prevent funding for abortions in cases of statutory rape and other circumstances.

Mr. Akin's Senate campaign website lists "Life," referring to his opposition to abortion, as the first of a handful of priority issues. "Our founders understood that life is a fundamental right granted to us by our Creator and that the government's role is to protect this right," he writes on his campaign site. "A government that doesn't protect innocent life fails at one of its most basic roles."

RTWT.

He misspoke, apparently. Suck it up and move on.

This isn't something that would normally sink a campaign. But the progs want this guy reamed, so we'll see.