I couldn’t believe the baby aspirin between the knees method of birth control made headlines last year.

Now I can’t believe the idiocy of Representative Tod Akin, Republican from Missouri and candidate for Senate. He claimed the following:

First of all, from what I understand from doctors, (pregnancy from rape) is really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.

What the hell??!!

Does this man talk to real doctors, MDs, professionals who really know how a woman’s body works? Did this man talk to sexual assault counselors?  Does he know what rape means? Did he pay attention in middle school when the science and health teacher taught how fertilization occurs?

I’m appalled that Mr. Akin would believe such a falsehood, much less attribute it to medical professionals and state it as truth.

I’m even more appalled that people might trust him and agree with this woefully inadequate piece of playground gossip.

I’m still more appalled that ignorant voters might decide to vote for lawmakers who believe that a woman can “shut down” her reproductive organs and somehow resist pregnancy when she is being attacked.

Republican leaders are distancing themselves from this horrific statement and the man who made it. But listen up, women: VP Paul Ryan was one of 200 cosponsors of the “personhood” bill that would outlaw birth control pills and narrowly define the term “rape.” Mitt Romney wants to completely eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood. These two candidates are dangerous.

I want my health to be a discussion between my doctor and me. No one in Congress need get in the middle. If Tod Akin is any example, many in the Republican Party didn’t pay enough attention in school to understand how pregnancy occurs, and they certainly can’t comprehend or define the term “rape.”

Women, we can’t stay silent. Speak up, educate, and above all, vote. A woman’s vote still counts the same as a man’s.