Ron Paul: No comment on Akin remarks

By Elise Viebeck - 08/21/12 02:08 PM ET

Congress's most prominent OB-GYN has not joined fellow Republicans in condemning Rep. Todd Akin's remark that victims of "legitimate rape" rarely become pregnant.

The silence from Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) contrasts with the vast majority of his party, which has closed ranks against Akin's Senate bid in response to the firestorm.

The libertarian icon and three-time presidential candidate has no comment on Akin's (R-Mo.) statement, a spokeswoman said Tuesday. Paul also declined to comment on Monday when pressed by The New York Times.

The turmoil began when Akin, trying to explain his position on abortion, said that a woman's body "has ways of trying to shut the whole thing down" and avoid pregnancy in cases of "legitimate rape."

The comment prompted widespread backlash from the medical community and both sides of the political spectrum.

Rep. Michael Burgess (Texas), a Republican OB-GYN like Paul, said that there is "no way to justify" what Akin said.

"What came across is something that's factually inaccurate and appeared insensitive and trivializing a criminal act," Burgess told The Wall Street Journal.

The House's two other OB-GYNs, Reps. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) and Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.), did not respond to requests for comment.

Paul, who has delivered more than 4,000 babies according to his House biography, opposes abortion rights. But in a February interview, he left the door open for women to abort in the case of what he called "honest rape."

On CNN, host Piers Morgan presented Paul with a hypothetical: if his daughter was raped, would he tell her to carry the resulting child to term?

"No," Paul said. "If it's an honest rape, that individual should go immediately to the emergency room. I would give them a shot of estrogen."

He described the situation as "in limbo" because a day or less after intercourse, "there is no legal or medical problem."

But, he added, "If you talk about somebody coming in, and they say 'I was raped and I'm seven months pregnant and I don't want to have anything to do with it,' it's a little bit different story."

Paul's office did not immediately respond Tuesday when asked what he meant by "honest rape."

Akin has apologized to voters for his remark, saying he misspoke. He will remain in his race against Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) over cries from his party to withdraw, he said Tuesday.