Todd Akin should not be on House science committee
Barb ShellyAmong the many revelations to emerge from the Todd Akin uproar is this: One apparently needn’t respect valid science, or even scientific principles, to sit on the science committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Congressman from St. Louis and (so far) GOP nominee for Missouri’s U.S. Senate seat is being roundly condemned for his ignorant assertion that “legitimate rape” rarely causes pregnancy because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
In subsequent statements, Akin has said he misspoke…what he meant to say was that forcible rape rarely causes pregnancies.
Not much of an improvement. The congressman appears to be relying on an old assertion from a physician associated with anti-abortion groups, who years ago published some gibberish about a rape victim’s hormone system going into overdrive and wreaking havoc with normal reproductive functions.
That assertion, by John Willke, has been thoroughly debunked by the legitimate —if you will — medical community. But Akin isn’t one to let valid science get in the way of his belief system. If you oppose abortion as fervently as he does, you need to find a way to get around the widespread opinion that women who are raped shouldn’t have to carry out a pregnancy. So you stick with a cockamamie theory that “real” rape doesn’t cause pregnancy.
Akin is also a strident opponent of the somatic cell nuclear transfer form of embryonic stem cell research, which requires the belief that a clump of human cells in a lab dish, smaller than a sharp pencil point, has the rights of a human being.
As noted here in Grist, Akin doesn’t believe in the science of climate change, either. In 2009, he rose on the House floor to display his sophistication on the matter:
I mean, we just went from winter to spring. In Missouri, when we go from winter to spring, that’s a good climate change. I don’t want to stop that climate change, you know. So, and who in the world would want to put politicians in charge of the weather anyway? What a dumb idea.
So here’s the deal. You can be a member of the U.S. House of Representatives science committee if you oppose politicians being in charge of the weather, but favor them being in charge of women’s health.
Suzanne Conaway
10 months ago“So, and who in the world would want to put politicians in charge of the weather anyway? What a dumb idea.”
In his case, that’s a really good idea.
Steven Fetter
66223
10 months agoI suspect you believe Todd Akin should not be in the House of Representatives, period. Voters be damned.
So here’s the deal: I believe that Rep Cleaver is not qualified to sit on any tax, finance, or economic committee. Lets que up our lynch mobs and let political cleansing begin.
Suzanne Conaway
10 months agoFortunately, I can vote against Akin and for Cleaver. I do love democracy.
Phil Cardarella
10 months agoHere is the real tragedy: Akin is actually one of the brighter lights of the GOP House! Or, at least not the worst.
The candidates of the GOP must at least pretend to give credence to the idea that the earth is 6000 years old and cavemen rode dinosaurs. That The Flintstones was a documentary. That evolution is a silly whim of socialist professors. They have to pretend that a single-celled zygote is a person. They have to pretend that dumping carbon into the athmosphere has no impact on climate.
Frankly, it is hard to name a GOPer who should be allowed on a committee in which “scisnce” is part of the name.
Steven Fetter
66223
10 months agoPhil, I don’t think any GOPer wants to a member of a committee where “scisnce” is part of the name.
But, while we are running down our Congress smarts, don’t forget the Democrats: Example: Guam will tip over due to our military base being on the island. Or a supposed manned landing on Mars. Or global cooling from the 70’s.
Most of our elected representatives are lawyers. Despite their vast knowledge of the law, they seem to beak it at a much higher rate than the average Joe. Why should you expect any better outcome with regard to science?
I find few in Congress that are qualified to judge how I live my life.
Kent Mueller
9 months, 4 weeks agoPhil is his typical condescending self.
But, I agree that Akin should not be on the Science Committee. And maybe not even the committee Phil was talking about, but I’m not sure what that was. With SBA loan issues, I suspect Cleaver might not be the best to be on the Financial Services Committee. And Maxine Waters is the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services committee. She should to too, as she has an ongoing ethics investigation involving a bank her husband has owned stock in and was a director.
Funny how liberals never mention those.