A Republican Senate candidate under fire for saying women's bodies can prevent pregnancies in cases of "legitimate rape" resisted pressure to drop out of the race ahead of a significant deadline Tuesday. Republicans feared the turmoil could damage their hopes for winning control of the U.S. Senate.
Congressman Todd Akin insisted the uproar was an overreaction to misspeaking "one word in one sentence on one day." He was once seen as a strong challenger to incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill in the Midwestern state of Missouri, but now even prominent members of his own party urge him to step aside.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Akin should leave the Senate race. Romney opposes abortion but supports exceptions in cases of rape - which is at odds with his party's platform, which calls for a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion without exceptions for rape or incest. A member of the platform committee confirmed that the plank has been adopted ahead of the party's national convention later this month, but the official requested not to be identified because the committee was still meeting.
Akin said staying in the race "is going to strengthen our country." He added, during a radio show hosted by former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, "I hadn't done anything morally or ethically wrong, as sometimes people in politics do."
But ominous signs were mounting against the six-term legislator, notably the apparent loss of millions of dollars in campaign advertising money from his own party.
The decision has some urgency. Missouri election law allows candidates to withdraw 11 weeks before Election Day. That means the deadline to exit the Nov. 6 election is 5 p.m. Tuesday. Otherwise, a court order would be needed to remove a name from the ballot.
The uproar began Sunday, when St. Louis television station KTVI aired an interview in which Akin was asked if he would support abortions for women who have been raped.
"It seems to me, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down," Akin said.
Later Sunday, Akin released a statement saying that he "misspoke." In the interviews with Huckabee and Sean Hannity, he apologized repeatedly, acknowledging that rape can lead to conception.
"Rape is never legitimate. It's an evil act. It's committed by violent predators," Akin said. "I used the wrong words the wrong way."
But the comments drew a sharp rebuke from fellow Republicans.
The Senate's top Republican, Mitch McConnell, said Tuesday that Akin "made a deeply offensive error at a time when his candidacy carries great consequence for the future of our country." McConnell said the apology was insufficient and it was time for Akin to drop out.
Missouri has grown increasingly conservative in recent years, and McCaskill is seen as vulnerable. She was not among those calling for her opponent to get out of the race.
The Senate Republicans' campaign arm said it would not support Akin's campaign. The committee had set aside $5 million for advertising.
"The stakes in this election are far bigger than any one individual," said Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee. By staying in the race, Akin "is putting at great risk many of the issues that he and others in the Republican Party are fighting for."
At least one outside group that has pounded McCaskill with ads, the Karl Rove-backed Crossroads organization, also pulled its ads from Missouri.
Republican frustration grew Tuesday. Two party officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to irritate Akin, said party officials were having trouble reaching him Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Akin campaign spokesman Ryan Hite declined Tuesday to reveal Akin's whereabouts.
Akin posted a video to YouTube early Tuesday in which he described himself as a compassionate father of two daughters, apologized for his poor choice of words and clarified that he understands the possible outcome of rape.
"Fact is, rape can lead to pregnancy. The truth is rape has many victims," he said.
President Barack Obama said Monday that Akin's comments underscore why politicians - most of whom are men - should not make health decisions on behalf of women.
"Rape is rape," Obama said. And the idea of distinguishing among types of rape "doesn't make sense to the American people and certainly doesn't make sense to me."
The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said a woman who is raped "has no control over ovulation, fertilization or implantation of a fertilized egg [i.e., pregnancy]. To suggest otherwise contradicts basic biological truths."
Between 10,000 and 15,000 abortions nationwide occur each year among women whose pregnancies resulted from rape or incest. An unknown number of babies are born to rape victims, the group said.
Research on the prevalence of rape and rape-related pregnancies is spotty. One estimate published in 1996 said about 5 percent of rapes result in pregnancy, or about 32,000 pregnancies among adult women each year.
One anti-abortion group expressed support for Akin, while another called on him to step aside.
Missouri Right to Life, which opposes a woman's right to get an abortion even in cases of rape and incest, said Akin's "consistent defense of innocent unborn human life clearly contrasts with the anti-life position of Senator Claire McCaskill."
But the Christian Defense Coalition called on him to withdraw. The coalition's leader, the Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, called Akin's comments "offensive, repugnant and troubling."
The idea about rape and pregnancy has been raised in anti-abortion circles for at least three decades.
Leon Holmes, onetime head of Arkansas Right to Life, wrote in a 1980 letter to a newspaper that concern for rape victims "is a red herring because conceptions from rape occur with the same frequency as snow in Miami." Holmes went on to become a federal judge.
Abortion foes in the Pennsylvania and North Carolina legislatures have made similar statements. And in Arkansas in 1998, Republican Senate candidate Fay Boozman came under fire for saying pregnancies from rape were uncommon. He apologized and later acknowledged that his unsuccessful campaign never recovered from the criticism.
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