Recently, Republican Senate candidate Tom Ryan was asked to comment on the comments made by Todd Akin.  For those of you living under a rock, Todd Akin is the asshole who’s comments has caused such a stir about ‘legitimate rape’ and abortion.  (You can read a better recap about that whole fiasco over here.)

Poor Tom Ryan, who is behind 18 points in the polls, gets asked by the media what his opinion on Todd Akin’s comments are, and he responded:

“What that congressman said I do not agree with at all,” Smith said. “He should have never said anything like that.

“I lived something similar to that with my own family,” he went on to say. “She chose life and I commend her for that. She knew my views but fortunately for me … she chose the way I thought. Now don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t rape.”

Smith was then asked if his daughter’s unwed pregnancy and rape were similar. “No, no, no. Put yourself in a father’s position, yes, I mean it is similar,” he said.

Asked again to clarify his statement, Smith said he wasn’t comparing the two.

“No, I didn’t not say that,” Smith said. “I said I went through a situation (with a daughter). It’s very, very difficult. But do I condone rape? Absolutely not. But do I propose life, yes I do. I’m pro-life, period.”

Now, you have news outlets like the Gawker putting up headlines that say:

Republican Senate Candidate Says Daughter’s Out-of-Wedlock Pregnancy is ‘Similar’ to Rape

Let me correct you Gawker, because apparently you like to infer stuff that wasn’t actually said.  In fact, he clarified that his daughters situation was not rape, and you should be looking at this from a fathers position.

From a fathers position, or really, anyone’s position in the family when the choice is made, the choice to get an abortion – REGARDLESS OF CIRCUMSTANCES is still a difficult choice.  Apparently the media thinks that if you are raped, your only option is to get an abortion.  No one who was raped would ever, ever, actually have to think about if they’re going to have the ‘rape baby’.  It’s a no-brainer.

Well media, regardless of the circumstances, the choice is the same choice.  Do you want to raise a child and take on that responsibly? Or do you want to have an abortion?  There are women every day who decide to abort the baby from consensual sex, and there are women every day who decide to keep a baby that came from a rape/date rape situation.

The fact that the topic was even discussed – that there was even an option – that it even came up in his daughters life?  That speaks volumes to his character and the way he raised his children.  Yes – she ended up CHOOSING life, because she thought about the other option, and brought her parents into the discussion.  To me, that speaks volumes about his principals.  Half the republican candidates on the ticket wouldn’t even consider having a discussion about it.

But you know, keep trying to twist his words around and say that he’s comparing consensual sex to rape.  He wasn’t (and he said twice that he wasn’t), he was speaking about the time when the choice (regardless of the background) came up in his family and he and his family had a difficult time handling it.   I guess it’s cool to blatantly lie in the headlines if it gets you ratings.

Do you think Tom was actually comparing his daughters situation to rape?  Or the choice itself?