If there was ever a doubt for the need of sex education in the school system it was removed by the remarkable statement of the Republican nominee for Senate in the state of Missouri, Todd Akin, who, in August 2012 insisted with the voice of authority that “legitimate rape” rarely leads to pregnancy. Aside from the bizarre notion of “legitimate rape,” Representative Akin believes that a woman has the power to will away pregnancy. He now joins the pantheon of pietistic leaders who speak with great religious conviction and no knowledge of science. He is sure to receive a sympathetic ear from Iranian cleric Kazem Sadighi who, in 2010, claimed that women’s immodesty causes earthquakes.
