<h2 style="margin-top:5.4pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:2.7pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:150%;background:white"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#1d1d1d;font-weight:normal"><a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/169474/how-body-reacts-sexual-assault" title="How the Body Reacts to Sexual Assault "><span style="color:black">How
the Body Reacts to Sexual Assault</span></a></span></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:150%;background:white"><b><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#526a83"><a href="http://www.thenation.com/authors/dana-goldstein"><span style="color:#496a8b">Dana Goldstein</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i></b><span class="timestamp"><abbr class="published" title="2012-08-20T18:08:02-14400"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:150%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:rgb(178,178,178)"><i>on August 20, 2012 </i>The Nation</span></b></abbr></span><b><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:150%;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:#526a83"></span></i></b></p>
<p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:150%;background:white"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">Embattled US Senate candidate Todd Akin
claimed yesterday that “legitimate rape” somehow turns off the female body’s
reproductive capabilities. As I<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.danagoldstein.net/dana_goldstein/2012/08/what-you-need-to-know-about-rape-related-pregnancy.html"><span style="color:#496a8b">demonstrate below</span></a>, that is absurd. But it is
important to note that<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>Akin’s
ideology is part of a broader set of misconceptions about how the body reacts
to sexual assault.</em></span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:150%;background:white"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">There’s<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/the-h-word/2012/aug/20/legitimate-rape-medieval-medical-concept"><span style="color:#496a8b">nothing new</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>about
the idea that vaginal lubrication, orgasm and pregnancy can occur only after a
wanted sexual encounter. None of this is true. A<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/23150432/Sexual-Arousal-and-Orgasm-in-Subjects-Who-Experience-Forced-Stimulation"><span style="color:#496a8b">2004 paper</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>from
the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>Journal of Clinical Forensic
Medicine</em>addresses some of these misconceptions. The authors, Roy
Levin and Willy van Berlo, considered reports from doctors, nurses and
therapists who work with rape survivors. Many of the clinicians had experienced
distraught victims’ asking why they felt lubrication or even orgasm during
rape.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:150%;background:white"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">One British nurse-therapist reported the
following:</span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:150%;background:white"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">“Approximately 1 in 20 women who come
to the clinic for treatment because of sexual abuse report that they have had
an orgasm from previous unsolicited sexual arousal. It is not detailed in the
[professional] literature because the victims usually do not want to tell/talk
about it because they feel guilty, as people will think that if it happened
they must have enjoyed it. The victims often say, ‘My body let me down.’ Some,
however, cannot summon the courage to say even that.”</span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:150%;background:white"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">Heartbreaking. Levin and van Berlo
found that victims report evidence of physical arousal in as many as 21 percent
of rape cases, even when they also report violence and high levels of fear and
mental distress. Why? The researchers note that many rapes are comitted by acquaintances
or romantic partners of the victims; initial familiarity or even attraction
might be supplanted by terror as an encounter becomes coercive. This is
relevant, I think, to the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2010/12/the_perils_of_charging_rape.html"><span style="color:#496a8b">charges against Julian Assange</span></a>, who is accused
of sexual assault for refusing to wear a condom with female partners who had
earlier consented to sex. If that occured, it is still rape: physical force was
used to violate the initial, consensual terms of the encounter.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:150%;background:white"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">Then there is the simple fact, obvious
to most women, that the vagina can become lubricated during sex as a defense
mechanism against tearing and pain, regardless of one’s level of enthusiasm or
emotional buy-in.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:150%;background:white"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">And it isn’t just women who can
experience these confusing sensations. In men, Levin and van Berlo actually
found some links between “anxiety-inducing threats” and increased blood flood
flow to the penis.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:150%;background:white"><em><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">All of this is really hard to write and
talk about it, because it exists in the murky area between what we desire and
what we fear.</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif"> </span></span><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">Yes,
force can provoke arousal, but that doesn’t condone the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>non-consensual</em>use of force. The authors
conclude:</span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:150%;background:white"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">“A perpertrator’s defence against the
alleged assault built solely on the evidence that genital arousal or orgasm in
the victim proves consent has no intrinsic validity and should be disregarded.”</span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:150%;background:white"><span style="font-family:Georgia,serif">One of the many problems with
Romney/Ryan-like rape exceptions to broad abortion bans is that they encourage
anti-choicers to draw a thousand<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/08/19/712251/how-todd-akin-and-paul-ryan-partnered-to-redefine-rape/?mobile=nc"><span style="color:#496a8b">false distinctions</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>between worthy and less worthy rape
victims, which is what Akin was really attempting to do. What he cares about is
saving as many fetuses as possible, regardless of what calamity befell the
women forced to bear them. For example, if you were raped by an ex-husband or
ex-boyfriend, is your fetus as unwanted as that of a woman raped by a stranger?
If you were raped by a man with whom you were drinking, do you deserve that
free pass abortion? Non-consensual sex is non-consensual sex. It exerts
unwanted control over a woman’s body—as does forced pregnancy.</span></p><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Aug 22, 2012 at 5:53 PM, lfalen <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:lfalen@turbonet.com" target="_blank">lfalen@turbonet.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Nick<br>
Most social issues are not hot button items for me. I am more interested in economic issues. In general though, I favor more freedom for the individual and less interference by the government. I am nether strongly pro-choice or pro-life, but tend to be closer to the pro-life position. Abortion should not be used as a form of birth control. In extremely rare surrmonstances such as the life of the mother, her life should dominate. I think that some of the positions of some democrats such as partial term abortions and allowing a baby that survived aan attempted abortion is much more extreme. Fortunately that is a minority opinion even for democrats.<br>
<br>
I am not aware of the legislation you mentioned, but I doubt that there is any such thing as justifiable rape.<br>
Roger<br>
-----Original message-----<br>
From: Nicholas Gier <a href="mailto:ngier006@gmail.com">ngier006@gmail.com</a><br>
Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2012 10:26:45 -0700<br>
To: lfalen <a href="mailto:lfalen@turbonet.com">lfalen@turbonet.com</a><br>
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] The GOP War On Women Accelerates<br>
<br>
> Hi Roger,<br>
><br>
> Where do you stand on the extreme, no exceptions GOP plank on abortion? As<br>
> a local GOP leader you should tell us what you believe.<br>
><br>
> And do you support Ryan after he teamed up with Akin in proposing a bill<br>
> with "justifiable rape" in it, which is what Akin said he meant when he<br>
> said "legitimate rape." Fortunately the language was rejected. Ryan and<br>
> Akin are two peas in a pod with regard to social issues.<br>
><br>
> Inquiring mind wish to know.<br>
><br>
> Nick<br>
><br>
> On Wed, Aug 22, 2012 at 10:12 AM, lfalen <<a href="mailto:lfalen@turbonet.com">lfalen@turbonet.com</a>> wrote:<br>
><br>
> > The Republicans want him to drop out. His opponent wants him to stay in.<br>
> > Apparently both sides think he will be easy to beat. The rumor has it that<br>
> > Mccaskill's backers funneled a lot of money into his campaign in the<br>
> > primary.<br>
> > Roger<br>
> > -----Original message-----<br>
> > From: Art Deco <a href="mailto:art.deco.studios@gmail.com">art.deco.studios@gmail.com</a><br>
> > Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2012 06:11:15 -0700<br>
> > To: <a href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</a><br>
> > Subject: [Vision2020] The GOP War On Women Accelerates<br>
> ><br>
> > > V<br>
> > > [image: The New York Times] <<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/</a>><br>
> > ><br>
> > > <<br>
> > <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&opzn&page=wwwnytimes.com/printer-friendly&pos=Position1&sn2=336c557e/4f3dd5d2&sn1=a36510e4/68ad5fe5&camp=FSL2012_ArticleTools_120x60_1787508c_nyt5&ad=RubySparks_120x60_June25_NoText&goto=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efoxsearchlight%2Ecom%2Frubysparks" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&opzn&page=wwwnytimes.com/printer-friendly&pos=Position1&sn2=336c557e/4f3dd5d2&sn1=a36510e4/68ad5fe5&camp=FSL2012_ArticleTools_120x60_1787508c_nyt5&ad=RubySparks_120x60_June25_NoText&goto=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efoxsearchlight%2Ecom%2Frubysparks</a><br>
> > ><br>
> > ><br>
> > > ------------------------------<br>
> > > August 21, 2012<br>
> > > Akin Controversy Stirs Up Abortion Issue in Campaign By JENNIFER<br>
> > > STEINHAUER<<br>
> > <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/jennifer_steinhauer/index.html" target="_blank">http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/jennifer_steinhauer/index.html</a><br>
> > ><br>
> > ><br>
> > > WASHINGTON — As an orator, Representative Todd<br>
> > > Akin<ttp://<br>
> > <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/a/todd_akin/index.html?inline=nyt-per" target="_blank">topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/a/todd_akin/index.html?inline=nyt-per</a><br>
> > >of<br>
> > > Missouri may stand out for his clumsiness. But as a legislator, Mr.<br>
> > > Akin<br>
> > > has a record on abortion that is largely indistinguishable from those of<br>
> > > most of his Republican House colleagues, who have viewed restricting<br>
> > > abortion rights as one of their top priorities.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > That agenda — largely eclipsed for two years by a protracted fiscal<br>
> > crisis<br>
> > > and the fight over how to manage the federal deficit — has wedged its<br>
> > way,<br>
> > > for now at least, to the center of the 2012 campaign. It is focusing<br>
> > > attention on an issue that helped earn Mitt<br>
> > > Romney<<br>
> > <a href="http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/primaries/candidates/mitt-romney?inline=nyt-per" target="_blank">http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/primaries/candidates/mitt-romney?inline=nyt-per</a><br>
> > >,<br>
> > > the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, a reputation as a<br>
> > > flip-flopper, threatening the Republican quest for control of the Senate,<br>
> > > and leaving Representative Paul D.<br>
> > > Ryan<<br>
> > <a href="http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/candidates/paul-ryan?inline=nyt-per" target="_blank">http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/candidates/paul-ryan?inline=nyt-per</a>>of<br>
> > > Wisconsin, Mr. Romney’s vice-presidential pick, in the uncomfortable<br>
> > > position of distinguishing himself from Mr. Akin, with whom he has often<br>
> > > concurred.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > It is an agenda that has enjoyed the support of House leaders, including<br>
> > > Speaker John A. Boehner and Representative Eric Cantor, the majority<br>
> > > leader, who has called anti-abortion measures “obviously very important<br>
> > in<br>
> > > terms of the priorities we set out initially in our pledge to America.”<br>
> > It<br>
> > > became inextricably linked to the near-shutdown of the federal government<br>
> > > last year when an agreement to keep the government open was reached only<br>
> > > after it was linked to a measure restricting abortion in the District of<br>
> > > Columbia.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > Even as Congressional Republicans, including Mr. Boehner, denounced Mr.<br>
> > > Akin’s remark that victims of “legitimate rape” were able to somehow<br>
> > > prevent pregnancy, an agenda to roll back abortion is one that House<br>
> > > Republicans have largely moved in step with.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > In an anti-abortion measure once sponsored by Mr. Akin, Mr. Ryan and<br>
> > scores<br>
> > > of other Republican lawmakers, an exemption was made for victims of<br>
> > > “forcible” rape, though that word was later removed.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > *On Tuesday, Republicans approved platform language for next week’s<br>
> > > nominating convention that calls for a constitutional amendment outlawing<br>
> > > abortion with no explicit exceptions for cases of rape or incest. That<br>
> > is a<br>
> > > view more restrictive than Mr. Romney’s, who has said that he supports<br>
> > > exceptions to allow abortions in cases of rape. *<br>
> > ><br>
> > > * *Mr. Ryan’s more conservative views, which have been reflected in votes<br>
> > > that would restrict family planning financing overseas, cut off all<br>
> > federal<br>
> > > funds to Planned Parenthood and repeal President Obama’s health care<br>
> > > law<<br>
> > <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/health_insurance_and_managed_care/health_care_reform/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" target="_blank">http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/health_insurance_and_managed_care/health_care_reform/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier</a><br>
> > >,<br>
> > > have come into sharp relief as Mr. Akin struggles for his political life.<br>
> > > Mr. Akin and Mr. Ryan each have voted in this Congress for 10<br>
> > > abortion-restricting measures as well as those that limited other family<br>
> > > planning services.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > Both Mr. Ryan and Mr. Romney have earned praise for their positions from<br>
> > > the National Right to Life group and other anti-abortion organizations.<br>
> > > “The right-to-life Romney/Ryan ticket is now complete,” wrote Barbara<br>
> > Lyons<br>
> > > and Sue Armacost, executive director and legislative director for<br>
> > Wisconsin<br>
> > > Right to Life, on the organization’s Web site.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > It is a legislative theme Democrats plan to highlight, even as House<br>
> > > Republicans try to keep the focus on economic issues.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > “All you need to know is that the House Republicans were willing to shut<br>
> > > down the government rather than fund Planned Parenthood,” said<br>
> > > Representative Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, in an e-mail on<br>
> > > Tuesday. “This is in keeping with their efforts — whether it’s<br>
> > Congressman<br>
> > > Akin or Chairman Ryan or others — to deny investments in critical women’s<br>
> > > health services, weaken the definition of rape, and take away access to<br>
> > > preventive care like cervical and breast cancer screenings.”<br>
> > ><br>
> > > The House Republican agenda has troubled the half-dozen or so Republican<br>
> > > House members whose views differ from those of their colleagues.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > “I have time and again spoken out against this to leadership,” said<br>
> > > Representative Robert Dold of Illinois, who is in a tough re-election<br>
> > > battle. “I’ve tried to talk to them about the issues that we ought to be<br>
> > > moving forward on, like out-of-control spending.”<br>
> > ><br>
> > > Mr. Dold has voted in favor of half of the abortion restriction measures<br>
> > in<br>
> > > this Congress, far fewer than most of his colleagues. “There is no<br>
> > question<br>
> > > that there are times when I may disagree with a vote that’s brought to<br>
> > the<br>
> > > floor,” he said in an interview, “and the majority of my Republican<br>
> > > colleagues, but that is just part of what we deal with every day.”<br>
> > ><br>
> > > There have long been lawmakers, like Mr. Akin, whose main legislative<br>
> > > agenda centers on the abortion issue. They got a boost after the 2010<br>
> > > election when a large group of conservative members joined them.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > Mr. Romney’s views align with that of the Mormon Church, which opposes<br>
> > > abortion except in cases of rape and incest or when the life of the woman<br>
> > > is in danger. He has said he is personally opposed to abortion; as a<br>
> > Mormon<br>
> > > bishop in the 1980s he attempted to talk a congregant out of terminating<br>
> > a<br>
> > > pregnancy after doctors advised her to do so because of a potentially<br>
> > > lethal blood clot.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > But abortion has proved to be a politically volatile topic for Mr.<br>
> > Romney,<br>
> > > whose evolving views have disappointed liberals and stirred distrust<br>
> > among<br>
> > > conservatives.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > In 1994, when he challenged Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Mr. Romney said he<br>
> > > would “not force our beliefs on others on that matter.” In 2002, as a<br>
> > > candidate for governor, he claimed to support “the substance” of Roe v.<br>
> > > Wade. By 2005, though, when he was beginning to consider a presidential<br>
> > > run, he had reversed course and described himself as a “pro-life governor<br>
> > > in a pro-choice state.” Now, as a presidential candidate, he refers to<br>
> > > himself as solidly “pro-life.”<br>
> > ><br>
> > > Aides to Mr. Romney declined to say on Tuesday whether he would call on<br>
> > the<br>
> > > convention delegates to reconsider their position on abortion.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, tried<br>
> > to<br>
> > > deflect questions on behalf of Mr. Romney, saying on Fox News that “this<br>
> > is<br>
> > > the platform of the Republican<br>
> > > Party<<br>
> > <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/r/republican_party/index.html?inline=nyt-org" target="_blank">http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/r/republican_party/index.html?inline=nyt-org</a><br>
> > >;<br>
> > > it is not the platform of Mitt Romney.”<br>
> > ><br>
> > > The idea of outlawing any exceptions for abortion is not new in American<br>
> > > political discourse or in legislation, nor are proposals to narrow the<br>
> > > definition of rape to distinguish between what some call “forcible rape”<br>
> > > and cases involving statutory rape or even some types of date rape.<br>
> > > Anti-abortion activists have long been concerned that women would falsely<br>
> > > claim to have been raped to gain an exemption to terminate a pregnancy.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > Historians and other experts on abortion politics say the no-exceptions<br>
> > > idea became part of the debate virtually as soon as Roe v. Wade legalized<br>
> > > abortion in 1973. “It has deep roots,” said Donald Critchlow, a historian<br>
> > > at Arizona State University who has studied abortion politics. He added,<br>
> > > “It’s appealing to segments within the Republican Party to show that<br>
> > you’re<br>
> > > pro-life.”<br>
> > ><br>
> > > Susan Cohen, director of government affairs for the Guttmacher<br>
> > Institute, a<br>
> > > research group in Washington that supports abortion rights, said the<br>
> > > no-exceptions idea is “not new and it’s not fringe.”<br>
> > ><br>
> > > “It is something that has been part of mainstream anti-abortion<br>
> > movement,”<br>
> > > she said. “The record is replete with evidence of the fact that there was<br>
> > > this no-exceptions attitude, and of course this makes logical sense from<br>
> > > the perspective of people who believe an embryo should have the same<br>
> > legal<br>
> > > status as you and I do.”<br>
> > ><br>
> > > In the 1992 election, the Republican Party included in its platform<br>
> > > language opposing abortion, allowing no exceptions and calling for a<br>
> > > constitutional amendment to make abortion illegal. Similar language<br>
> > > opposing any exceptions was included in 2000 and 2004, even though George<br>
> > > W. Bush also supported outlawing abortion except in cases of rape,<br>
> > incest,<br>
> > > or when the life of the woman was in danger.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > Four years ago, the Republican Party adopted a platform seeking an<br>
> > > unconditional ban on abortion, though its nominee, Senator John McCain,<br>
> > had<br>
> > > urged the party in the past to allow certain exceptions. After this<br>
> > year’s<br>
> > > abortion plank language was approved with little debate, the chairman of<br>
> > > the platform committee, Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia, praised the<br>
> > > committee for “affirming our respect for human life.”<br>
> > ><br>
> > > Pam Belluck and Michael Cooper contributed reporting from New York.<br>
> > ><br>
> > > --<br>
> > > Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<br>
> > > <a href="mailto:art.deco.studios@gmail.com">art.deco.studios@gmail.com</a><br>
> > ><br>
> > ><br>
> ><br>
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</blockquote></div><br>