ByMichelle Ewing, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
ST. LOUIS — Former U.S. Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri has died at age 74.
Former Republican U.S. Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri, who sunk a 2012 bid for Senate with a comment about "legitimate rape," has died at age 74. https://t.co/3voIM5XctL
“He was a devoted Christian, a great father and a friend to many,” the statement read, according to the news agency. “We cherish many fond memories from him driving the tractor at our annual hayride, to his riveting delivery of the freedom story at Fourth of July parties dressed in the full uniform of a colonial minuteman. The family is thankful for his legacy: a man with a servant’s heart who stood for truth.”
Akin, who represented Missouri’s 2nd District in suburban St. Louis from 2001 to 2013, ran for U.S. Senate in 2012 but lost to then-incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, the AP reported. During his campaign, comments he made about abortions for rape victims drew criticism from opponents as well as fellow Republicans.
“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” Akin told a St. Louis TV station at the time, claiming that pregnancies resulting from rape are “really rare.”
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Photos: Former U.S. Rep. Todd Akin dead at 74 In this Aug. 24, 2012, file photo, U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., gives a news conference where he confirmed his plans to remain in Missouri's U.S. Senate race despite a political uproar over remarks he made about rape and pregnancy. Akin died Oct. 3, 2021, at age 74. Here are some photos from his career. (AP Photo/Sid Hastings, File)
Photos: Former U.S. Rep. Todd Akin dead at 74 2003: Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., at a Africa Agriculture/Biotechnology/Research Subcommittee hearing on "Plant Biotechnology Research and Development in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities." (Chris Maddaloni/Roll Call/Getty Images)
Photos: Former U.S. Rep. Todd Akin dead at 74 2005: U.S. Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) and Army Secretary Francis Harvey watch during a demonstration of future combat systems for them, Army Chief of Staff General Peter Schoomaker and the media at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. (Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images)
Photos: Former U.S. Rep. Todd Akin dead at 74 2008: Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) takes a closer look at the new XM1203 Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon (NLOS-C) on the National Mall on June 11, 2008, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Photos: Former U.S. Rep. Todd Akin dead at 74 2009: TeenNick Halo Award-honoree Brryan Jackson (left) visits Capitol Hill to meet with U.S. Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) on December 9, 2009, in Washington, D.C. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Nickelodeon)
Photos: Former U.S. Rep. Todd Akin dead at 74 2010: House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Expeditionary Forces ranking member Todd Akin, R-Mo., during the markup of the panel's portion of the fiscal 2011 defense authorization bill. (Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images)
Photos: Former U.S. Rep. Todd Akin dead at 74 2011: U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) talks to U.S. Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) outside the Republican National Committee headquarters after a House Republican Conference meeting March 1, 2011, in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Photos: Former U.S. Rep. Todd Akin dead at 74 2012: In this Aug. 16, 2012, file photo, Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., and his wife Lulli, talk with reporters while attending the Governor's Ham Breakfast at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia, Mo. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner, File)
Photos: Former U.S. Rep. Todd Akin dead at 74 2012: Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and U.S. Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) attend a fundraiser for Akin on September 24, 2012, in Kirkwood, Missouri. (Whitney Curtis/Getty Images)
Photos: Former U.S. Rep. Todd Akin dead at 74 2012: In this Nov. 6, 2012, file photo, U.S. Senate candidate, Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., and his wife Lulli acknowledge supporters before Akin makes his concession speech to U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., in Chesterfield, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
Then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his 2012 running mate, former U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, issued a statement after Akin’s interview, saying they disagreed with his remarks, The Guardian reported.
“A Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape,” the statement added.
Akin said in a statement that he “misspoke,” the AP reported. Although he later said his comments were wrong, he took back the apology in his 2014 memoir, “Firing Back.”
“By asking the public at large for forgiveness, I was validating the willful misinterpretation of what I had said,” he wrote in the book, according to Politico.
He added: “My comment about a woman’s body shutting the pregnancy down was directed to the impact of stress on fertilization. This is something fertility doctors debate and discuss. Doubt me? Google ‘stress and infertility,’ and you will find a library of research on the subject.”
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