What Akin should have said

Some liberal critics, meanwhile, think that the chief outrage in Akin’s remarks is his opposition to abortion in the case of rape. It seems to them an extreme and horrifying position. (According to Gallup only 22 percent of the public shares it, making it 4 points less popular than a ban on handguns.) They wonder why so much less outrage has been directed at Representative Paul Ryan, who reportedly also takes this view, or at a Republican platform that has long called for protecting unborn life and is silent about exceptions…

Imagine if Akin had instead responded to the question this way:

“First of all, rape is a terrible crime that we must do everything we can as a society to prevent, and I can hardly imagine the horror of a rape victim who finds out that she is pregnant. I believe that, even in this terrible case, the unborn child is an innocent party and its life should be protected. I understand that most people disagree with me, and I might never persuade them to see this the way I do. My plan is to work to provide protection for the 99 percent of unborn children who are aborted for totally different reasons, while continuing to try to change views on this question.”