Apparently not.
Leader of California Republican group steps into rape pregnancy controversy
Ironically, [Celeste] Greig was in the midst of criticizing former Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin for saying that victims of "legitimate rape" rarely get pregnant because "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." It was a remark that many believe led not only to his defeat in November but also helped tarnish the Republican brand around the country.
"That was an insensitive remark," Greig said. "I'm sure he regretted it. He should have come back and apologized."
Greig, however, went on to say: "Granted, the percentage of pregnancies due to rape is small because it's an act of violence, because the body is traumatized. I don't know what percentage of pregnancies are due to the violence of rape. Because of the trauma the body goes through, I don't know what percentage of pregnancy results from the act."
Celeste Greig is the chair of the California Republican Assembly -- a group that Ronald Reagan once called, "the conscience of the Republican Party." With statements like that, I'd say it's more like the unconscious of the Republican Party, if that didn't actually describe the entire Party.
I'm not sure how well the Republicans' current diet of shoe leather is helping their weight, but it's certainly not going to help their election chances in 2014. Especially in California, where they're already an endangered species (though less lovable than the California condor).
Not only are statements like Akin's "shut that whole thing down" and Greig's "small percentage" stupid, they're apparently incorrect:
Most research on rape and pregnancy has shown roughly the same rates of pregnancy as pregnancies resulting from consensual sex. But one 2003 study from St. Lawrence University showed the rate at which women get pregnant after rape to be more than double that of a single act of consensual sex. The study used data from the United States National Violence Against Women survey.
With consensual sex, the authors theorized, women have the option of declining sex or using contraception when there is a high likelihood of getting pregnant because of their ovulation cycle.
Granted, the research is from 2003 -- no telling how the numbers may have changed in the past decade. But short of arming every ovum with an AR-15, there's no way to protect said ovum from a rapist's sperm.
When it comes to stupid statements from stupid politicians, I really hope that the American voters will have a way to shut that down come November of 2014.