Wednesday, August 22, 2012

A Bit Of Sex Ed 101 For Iowa Cong. Steve King, (R)

Steve King - - a Member of Congress (read: national policy-maker) from Iowa, said he was unaware that statutory rape can lead to pregnancy.

The independent, non-profit and esteemed Guttmacher Institute on family planning cited this data - - yes, I know, some of that stupid science King's pal Cong. Todd Akin can access on the House Science Committee - - in 1996:

Recent studies indicate that at least half of all babies born to minor women are fathered by adult men.1
In Nevada, the figure was higher:
In Nevada 70% of the babies born to teen mothers are fathered by adult men (2004 Nevada Vital Statistics). 


6 comments:

Betsey said...

Because he thinks only statues can be rapers in statutory rape?

Reagan's Disciple said...

Nice source...

A 20 year old study relating to California was titled according to your link and then the secondary link.

The Ages of Fathers in California Adolescent Births, 1993

James Rowen said...

So, RD: Data about a decade later that I added to the posting shows even higher percentages. You are losing the argument, like your GOP candidates.

Anonymous said...

I would say that the party who is losing the argument is the one which feels a need to distract from the real issues of jobs and the economy by becoming obsessed with definitions of rape. How ridiculously desperate can you get?

CJ said...

"I would say that the party who is losing the argument is the one which feels a need to distract from the real issues of jobs and the economy by becoming obsessed with definitions of rape."

Funny you should say that. I could not agree more. So let me ask-- Why has the Republican party focused so heavily on reproductive rights rather than the economy and jobs?

Betsey said...

CJ, I agree with you. First it was the Catholic Church getting all huffy about birth control. Then it was Cong. Darryl Issa's all-male review of who should be allowed to have birth control. Then it was Limbo calling Sandra Fluke a 'slut.' Then it was the Michigan legislature banning the use of the word 'vagina.' Now it's rape, 'forcible rape', legitimate rape', 'statutory rape' and what causes pregnancy. And that's all coming from one place--the GOP--the party that just can't stop obsessing over the discussion, policy-making, and legislation of lady parts. Leave us alone! My business is none of yours!

You're the ones who keep starting it with these ridiculous pronouncements and made-up stuff, then act surprised and upset when the rest of the country reacts to it, or even asks a question.

Shut up already! The furor that you started will die down when it will. You only fuel the fire when you keep defending yourselves and each other.

How about this for a radical concept (in response to yet another question you don't want to answer): "I don't like abortion. I'm opposed to abortion. My faith is opposed to abortion. However, we don't live in a perfect world. Our world includes things such as rape, incest, domestic abuse, teenage lust, poverty, ignorance, sexual predators, forced prostitution, drug and alcohol addiction, mental illness and disability. There is probably no way to stop completely stop all abortion, but neither is there any point in criminalizing mothers, doctors and family members who are in a tough situation and faced with a tough choice."

"Forced abortion, all rape and sexual coercion, and forced sterilization are as wrong and should be as illegal as forced pregnancy, which is the result of making abortion illegal."

"I will dedicate my life to compassionate treatment of unplanned pregnancy and its victims. I will begin by ensuring that the entire country is provided with medically accurate, age-appropriate sex education so that no one becomes pregnant or impregnates from ignorance. I will ensure that every woman and man and sexually active teenager has access to safe, inexpensive or free birth control through a private physician or clinic so that pregnancies can be prevented. My Christian faith charges me to love 'love one another as I have loved you' and so I will work to eradicate poverty, homelessness, abuse, slavery, violence, prostitution, hyper-sexualization, teenage pregnancy and parenthood, mental illness, lack of access to medical care and/or insurance, poor education, racism and sexism. And hopelessness."

"I will tithe 10% of my income to Planned Parenthood. This is completely in support of my commitment to reducing the need for abortion. No further comment is necessary."

"I will do what I can do as a man to acknowledge that the women in my life, as all women, deserve to make their own choices about their futures, and will do my utmost to support those choices with compassion and respect. I will try to be much less judgmental about the choices people make and how they ended up in the situation they did."

"Recognizing that I'm only one person, though I am a U.S. Congressman, and possibly may be elected to be Vice President of the United States, I pledge to hold reasonable discussions with members of my own party as well as those of the opposite party to find common ground and begin achieving some of the objectives I've promised above. Furthermore, recognizing that this is a struggle for my own lifetime and well beyond, I pledge to raise my children with the same compassion and values enumerated above, to the extent I'm able."

"I renounce Ayn Rand."

"I will sit on the bus with the Nuns on the Bus and . . . . . listen."

"I will sit anywhere. . . with women of all ages, races, political views, occupations and educational backgrounds . . . and I will listen."

Signed, Paul Ryan, Todd Akin, and Mitt Romney