President Obama on Monday called recent comments on rape by Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., “offensive,” and said they marked a difference in opinion between the political parties.
“Let me first of all say the views expressed were offensive. Rape is rape. And the idea that we should be parsing and qualifying and slicing what types of rape we’re talking about doesn’t makes sense to the American people and certainly doesn’t make sense to me,” Obama told reporters.
The president said Akin’s comments illustrate “why we shouldn’t have a bunch of politicians, the majority of whom are men, making health care decisions on behalf of women.”
(RELATED: Akin Apologizes)
Despite the efforts of Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and other Republicans to distance themselves from Akin’s comments, Obama said that the “broader issue” of qualifying rape and women’s control over their own health care decisions speaks to a divide between his views and those of the GOP.
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