CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
A Missouri congressman's controversial comments about what he called "legitimate rape" continue to outrage the public as a national conference on sexual assault convened in Chicago on Wednesday.
Applause greeted one speaker who declared sexual assault victims should be allowed to abort a pregnancy conceived in rape.
"When they tell you they were raped, they were raped. And there was nothing they could do to prevent it. They have a right to control their bodies," says Polly Poskin from the IL Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
The pro-choice message on abortion was the same in the North Suburbs, one stop on a national bus tour by Planned Parenthood's Action Fund. Democratic congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth said she's trying to unseat Rep. Joe Walsh, in part, because, he joined Missouri's Rep. Todd Akin in an effort to narrow the legal definition of rape.
"He co-sponsored the bill that tried to redefine rape between the version of regular rape and forcible rape," explains Tammy Duckworth, Democrat for Congress. "As far as I'm concerned, rape is rape."
A spokesman said the pro-life Walsh totally rejected Congressman Akin's since-retracted claim that victims of "legitimate rape" are very unlikely to become pregnant. Pro-choice Republicans, including Hinsdale's Rep. Judy Biggert, found themselves under fire as well in the controversy.
When we went to Naperville to ask former Congressman Bill Foster about it, he noted that abortion rights groups gave him a higher rating than they gave Biggert, who opposes the use of taxpayer dollars for abortion.
"I have a 100% pro-choice record. She does not."
Still, organizers of the national conference on sexual assault have invited Rep. Biggert to speak to the 1,200 participants on Friday. She was an author of the Violence Against Women Act and it's long been one of her signature issues.
"There is a sexual assault in this country every two minutes. So this is something that's very important and I've worked with them throughout the years," said Rep. Judy Biggert.
