Lawmaker's rape gaffe pushes abortion into US race

White House rivals President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney on Monday both condemned a Republican lawmaker's controversial intervention in the debate about rape and abortion. But, while Romney scrambled to distance his campaign from his party ally's statement, Obama seized on the gaffe to embarrass his opponent and underline the gap between their positions. Congressman Todd Akin of Missouri, his party's nominee for the Senate race in his state, triggered outrage Sunday when he said a woman's body can block an unwanted pregnancy during what he termed a "legitimate rape." Akin's claim, which is unsupported by science, has been used in the past by some Christian conservatives to justify their opposition to all abortions, even those in cases of rape, which more US voters support. Romney was quick to condemn the comment from his fellow Republican, and he was joined by several other high-ranking supporters fearful for the party's plan to woo women and independent voters away from Democrats. Obama acknowledged Romney had distanced himself, but nevertheless found a way to twist the knife during an appearance at the White House briefing room, telling reporters: "First of all, the views expressed were offensive. "Rape is rape, and the idea we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we are talking about doesn't make sense to the American people," he said, quickly turning to the broader issue of abortion rights. "What I think that these comments do underscore is why we should not have a bunch of politicians, a majority of whom are men, making health care decisions on behalf of women," Obama said. "I think that the underlying notion that we should be making decisions on behalf of women for their health care decisions, for qualifying forcible rape versus non-forcible rape, are broader issues." Akin's remark clearly angered Romney. "Congressman Akin's comments on rape are insulting, inexcusable, and, frankly, wrong," Romney told the conservative National Review Online. "Like millions of other Americans, we found them to be offensive." In his comments, Akin had appeared to suggest that some women falsely allege rape in order to justify abortion, saying: "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." Romney dismissed this, saying: "I have an entirely different view. What he said is entirely without merit and he should correct it." Amid a growing backlash, Akin apologized, saying he used "absolutely the wrong word" and that his comments were "a very, very serious error." "I really just want to apologize to those that I've hurt," Akin said on the Mike Huckabee Show, a syndicated radio program. But he also suggested he was not going to stand down in his race against Democratic incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill. "I'm not a quitter. My belief is we're going to take this thing forward by the grace of God to win this race," Akin said. While he said no one from the Romney campaign had called him to demand he stand down, several Republicans publicly urged Akin to pull out of the race, including Senator Scott Brown, from Romney's home state of Massachusetts. "As a husband and father of two young women, I found Todd Akin's comments about women and rape outrageous, inappropriate and wrong," Brown said. "Not only should he apologize, but I believe Representative Akin's statement was so far out of bounds that he should resign the nomination for US Senate." Akin's remarks also have been seized upon by Democrats, including McCaskill. "For most Missourians I hope this is one of those gut check moments when they realize this is not somebody we want speaking for us and for our values on the floor of the United States Senate," she told MSNBC news. Despite his condemnation of Akin's outburst, and his pro-choice position during his time as Massachusetts governor notwithstanding, Romney is campaigning on an anti-abortion ticket. He wants the US Supreme Court, whose members are appointed by the president, to overturn "Roe V. Wade", the landmark 1973 ruling on the issue of abortion. Romney's vice-presidential running mate, seven-term congressman Paul Ryan, told the conservative Weekly Standard magazine in 2010: "I'm as pro-life as a person gets."