North America 20 August 2012 Representative Todd Akin on "legitimate rape" Quote of the day. Sign UpGet the New Statesman\'s Morning Call email. Sign-up “It seems to me, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare,” Akin told KTVI-TV. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something: I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be of the rapist, and not attacking the child.” Representative Todd Akin, who is a Republican candidate for Senate in Missouri, on rape. He has since issued a statement clarifying his remarks. › Morning Call: pick of the papers Todd Akin speaks at the 58th National Prayer Breakfast in 2010. Photograph: Getty Images