Clarifying the Facts: NFP Teacher Responds to Congressman Todd Akin

By Tara K. E. Brelinsky
8/24/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

The incidence of pregnancy conceived in rape is low, but irregardless of that statistical number, a child has the right to life

While I do not wish to jump into the political fray over whether or not Senator Akin should stay or go, I think it is important to clarify the point he was trying to make. Rape is rape, there is nothing to debate there, but the female body does indeed have the ability, when under duress, to delay ovulation.

Rep. Todd Akin

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ZEBULON, NC (Catholic Online) - Much ado has been made over the recent comments of Senator Todd Akin from Missouri, but it isn't about nothing. The Senator, when discussing the incidence of pregnancies conceived from rape, is quoted as saying, "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

Certainly, the Senator's comments were insensitive and caused real injury to some women. I make no attempt to excuse his lack of forethought and empathy. He has come out in the public square to beg forgiveness and to take full responsibility for his lack of tact.

Rape is rape. The words legitimate or illegitimate serve only to promote the false idea that such an act of disrespect and violence against women is in some cases permissible or at least understandable. That is wrong. And rape survivors deserve better than to have their integrity further violated or their honesty called into question. There is no legitimate circumstance in which a man may rightly engage in an intimate act with a woman without her complete, conscious, informed and continuing consent.

So while I take no issue with the public outcry against the Senator for his callous vocabulary choice with regards to the crime of rape, I understand the point he was trying, but not succeeding, to express when he stated the female body attempts to "shut down."

The talking heads in the news media world, conservative and liberal alike, have been spewing all manner of questionable facts and opinions with regards to the female body's ability/inability to thwart a conception. It is no surprise that in this age of contraception, when the majority of females' fertility cycles are influenced by artificial hormones, hardly an informed voice can be heard crying out in this anti-life wilderness.

As any teacher of Natural Family Planning can tell you, the female body exhibits an awesome power each cycle. Women can easily learn to read their signs of fertility and infertility, which is how we are clearly able to discern that stress and trauma indeed have the potential to inhibit ovulation in a given cycle.

A short biology lesson:

The pituitary gland initiates the secretion of the follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) shortly after menstruation which stimulates an ovarian follicle, then leading to the release of estrogen. Estrogen cause the endometrium to build up, the cervical crypts to secrete mucus and the cervix position to change. The latter two results can be detected by the woman.

As the estrogen increases in anticipation of ovulation, the cervical mucus will change in quality and perhaps quantity. It is this fertile type mucus that extends the parameters of a woman's fertile phase since the egg, itself, is only viable for about 24 hours. This type of mucus provides not only a swimming medium for the sperm, but it allows the sperm to remain viable inside of the female for up to five days after intercourse.

The woman, who is taking her basal body temperature every morning will record a generally steady lower range of temperatures under the influence of estrogen.

The pituitary gland now secretes the luteinizing hormone (LH) which stimulates the release of the egg from the ovarian follicle. Estrogen levels fall and the corpus luteum, or follicle that was responsible for releasing the egg, secretes the hormone progesterone. Progesterone's job is to maintain the lining of the uterus, suppress further ovulations, increase the basal temperature, dry-up the cervical mucus and change the position of the cervix again.

The woman practicing NFP can detect the mucus dry-up, see a noticeable temperature shift and feel the cervical changes.

With the help of a microscope, doctors have been able to witness the incredible characteristics of fertile/non-fertile type mucus. The former type can be seen to have open channels running through the mucus. Those channels serve to allow sperm to pass through while also sifting out defective sperm that are misshapen. The latter type have closed channels.

Stress and the hormones it triggers, like cortisol, can disturb this delicate hormonal interplay and delay ovulation. Stress can be bodily or psychological in nature. Rape, indeed, would induce an extreme form of stress on a woman to which her body may potentially react by delaying ovulation; thereby, reducing the chance of pregnancy. Additionally, stress increases the incidence of miscarriage should a conception take place.

When we teach NFP to the newly engaged we remind them that it is not uncommon to experience extended cycles due to delayed ovulation during the time of wedding preparation. If preparing for a wedding can cause enough stress to delay ovulation, then it is easy to see how severe ...

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1 - 10 of 22 Comments

JoAnn
8 months ago
Rob: We need to get the Rino facists out of Washington. How many times do I have to say that. The true conservatives in the GOP ARE Pro-life. Rino's are progressives and care more about themselves. I said all along that Romney was a progressive. I'm surprised he made such a wise choice in Paul Ryan. And again, we have to hold our noses when we vote. The only reason the Rino's jumped on Akin's words is because he isn't one of them and they are trying to force him out. "They don't need another "extreme conservative" in Washington." And to conservative Missourians, have you all had lobotomies? You elect Akin as your candidate to run against McCaskill, and you are going to let the Rino establishment undermine you again? I don't live in Missouri but the rest of this country has just as much interest in what you do in November too. If you allow Obama's "clone" Clair McCaskill to get re-elected, you deserve what you get! And you can rest assured that the rest of the country will call you morons. Show-me state, do we have to show you how to get some courage. God bless.
Rob
8 months ago
This issue isn't so much about what Akin said or thought he was saying. The issue at hand is that it has exposed a party who is not as pro-life as they purport to be. (JoAnn, you left out the soon-to-be nominee for the GOP who was also calling for Akin to drop out.) Why? Because his true prolife stance is not the stance of the party. Believe it or not, I actually believe the democrats have more credibility in this area. I know exactly what they stand for. They support abortion and if you had any doubts tune into the abortion love fest aka the Deomocratic National Convention and you'll be convinced. The GOP says they are pro-life, but Akin has only exposed the fact that the emperor has no clothes. Dems....what you see is what you get.....GOP, we'll not exactly. Otherwise they wouldn't be trying to run this guy out of town. Ryan has already punted on this and Romney will try to ride the fence on this one.

All I heard this morning was the GOP guys say Obama doesn't want to talk about his record because it's a record of failure. It's precisely why the GOP doesn't want to talk about abortion.

If the GOP platform is "a little abortion is ok," then that is all that's needed to ensure the status quo remains, as it has for 40 years.
Juneau Alaska
8 months ago
Two things here: 1. The plural of anecdote is not data. 2. 1995 Journal of Human Nature by author Gotschall provides evidence that rape more often leads to conception.

I wish I had the opportunity not to vote for Akin.

Mike
JoAnn
8 months ago
Ann: Pick up some medical journals from the 70's and learn something. As I said, two of my best friends were nurses and the female shut down was taught to them. No one is saying it is true today. That's what Akin was talking about. He just neglected to get more modern info on the matter. Chill out. Is statutory rape which is consensual rape, rape? God bless.
Ann
8 months ago
Really people, rape is rape and abortion is abortion. And as far as stress goes , it can cause all sorts of ailments and psychological conditions, but I doubt it really has much to do in the case of a raped woman. Seems to me it is Our Lord God that allows this to occur conception that is (for reasons we may not know or understand). So stop all the nonsense " of a woman being able to shut that whole thing down. It couldn't be more offensive. So Stop.
JoAnn
8 months ago
Eddie: You are right but the worst sin in all of this is, Akin will probably have to drop out of politics altogether. Everyone has done such a hatchet job on him that it will be a miracle if he recovers from this. I hope the media and everyone else who did this to him is proud of themselves. Nothing like ruining a good, christian and honorable man's life for their glory. May God have mercy on their souls. Politics is so filthy. Our founding fathers are looking down on us with disgust. If honor, integrity, love and virtue doesn't return, this country is lost. God bless.
Maggie
8 months ago
First, Tara, thank you for the information about the women's body and how it works.
Second, if you are talking about, "the poor will have to bear their children" as meaning that the poor who are raped will have to bear their children, I'd like to add my experience.
My husband and I are unable to conceive children. When we looked at the adoption process, we were told that it was very unlikely that we would be able to adopt since most pregnant women aborted their babies instead of looking at adoption. At that time (1992), there were 8 million couples waiting on adoption lists with an adoption agency, there were 2 million more couples that were trying to adopt privately through lawyers or doctors, and there were another 5 million couples that wanted to adopt but didn't qualify to get on the adoption list. That's 15 million couples wanting to adopt. I don't think that there are 15 million babies conceived in rape every year. So there would be plenty of married couples that would be able to care for the children born after being conceived in rape.
I thank God everyday for the two birth mothers of my children. They gave my children a birthday and then gave them to us to raise. And yes, one was conceived in rape and that one is the very precious to me.
MaryAnne
9 months ago
GW, maybe, just maybe, in your worst case scenario, Social Services would be forced to make it easier for people to adopt. Based on your posts, you have absolutely no idea how hard it is to adopt a child in this country. I know many families that would be more than happy to adopt, but social services makes it very difficult. Probably just as difficult as feeding the homeless in Philadelphia (now illegal, by the way).
Eddie
9 months ago
Trying to explain what Akin meant is fine but the problem is that he is now a heavily damaged candidate and a drag on other pro-life candidates. His comments are going to be tied around the neck of Romney and especially Ryan. If you want to forgive him that's great but his candidacy is not worth the cost in other important races.
Tim Nelson
9 months ago
GW-- So only dumb women concieve out of wedlock?

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