Republican Rep. Phil Gingrey learned the hard way on Friday about the dangers of wading into a debate about “legitimate rape” and pregnancy.
Gingrey’s office said Friday that the congressman’s comments were misconstrued after he was reported arguing that former GOP Rep. Todd Akin was “partially right” in saying that a woman would not conceive after a “legitimate rape.”
Akin’s Missouri Senate campaign fell apart last year after his debunked claim that "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
Gingrey, an ob-gyn who represents Georgia, argued at a local Chamber of Commerce meeting on Thursday that Akin wasn’t entirely wrong.
“I’ve delivered lots of babies, and I know about these things,” Gingrey said, according to The Marietta Daily Journal. “It is true. We tell infertile couples all the time that are having trouble conceiving because of the woman not ovulating, ‘Just relax. Drink a glass of wine. And don’t be so tense and uptight because all that adrenaline can cause you not to ovulate.’ So he was partially right wasn’t he?”
To check out some video clips of safety tips to escape an attempted rape, click here.
