Rape More Likely To Result In Pregnancy Than Consensual Sex?

How common is pregnancy after rape? If you were to believe former Republican Missouri Congressman Todd Akin, it's very rare indeed. In the statement that made the man (in)famous even beyond the United States, he said:

"It seems to me, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare. 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."

The idea that women's bodies can magically prevent pregnancy after they are "legitimately raped" was Akin's appallingly unscientific reason to oppose abortion following rape by claiming, in a round-about manner, that most women who say they are pregnant from rape weren't really raped, but are — what? —.lying so they can get an abortion? His source? Some pro-life doctor who single-handedly proved that political convictions are sometimes so important to people that they make them toss their education right out the window, alongside their integrity. 

Akin went on to boldly claim that some of the members of his campaign team had been rape-conceived. Several? A number of people in his campaign group were rape-conceived, were aware of it, and personally admitted that to him? Shouldn't that alone disprove the legitimacy of his comment? But oh, well, all Akin really had to say about the comment was that it "was intentionally misunderstood and twisted for political purposes" and that all children are special. 

Some creatures, it's known, really do have "sperm-dumping" abilities. Chickens, who aren't especially peaceful when it comes to sexual activity, are a case in point. But do humans have that same special ability? Akin's comments took place several years ago, but they are no less relevant now than they were when he made them. Using made-up facts as armor to strive to take women's reproductive choices away is morally wrong, but it's also simply unscientific. 

Pregnancy From Rape: What Do The Figures Say?

An often quoted 1996 study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology suggests that around 32,101 pregnancies occur as the result of rape each year. The rape-related pregnancy rate among women aged between 12 and 45 was, according to the researchers, five percent. Another study, published in the journal Human Nature in 2003, specifically looked into whether single incidents of rape are more or less likely than single incidents of consensual sex to result in pregnancy. 

The researchers conducted telephone surveys with 8,000 randomly selected American women, 405 of whom reported being raped exactly one time. Twenty-six women became pregnant after being raped, amounting to a total of 6.42 percent, a figure that rose to eight percent once adjusted for contraceptive use. Should you believe that to be a rather low rate, wait until you see how likely women are to get pregnant from consensual sex.

Another study, published in 2001 in the journal Contraception, showed that women who had sex on cycle day 13 (around the time of ovulation) had a nine percent chance of getting pregnant. Those who had intercourse during their period, meanwhile, had a zero percent chance of conception. Overall, when averaged out, women of reproductive age were found to have a 3.1 percent chance of conceiving on any given cycle day.

But why?

Why Could Women Be More Likely To Get Pregnant From Rape Than Consensual Sex?

What could possibly explain why women are more likely to get pregnant from rape than consensual sex? "Rapists do not wait to be chosen, rapists choose," the research team points out.

"As such, within the limits of opportunity, rapists would be able to target women bearing cues [of fertility]."

Wait, what? Does that mean that all men have the ability to detect which women are at their most fertile? The researchers think so. "We propose, based on this growing body of research, that all men — rapists and non-rapists — have the capacity to "read" fecundity cues and pursue the most attractive/fecund women that they can. However, since rapists circumvent the problem of female choice, while non-rapists must confront it, it is plausible that the average instance of rape occurs with a more attractive/fecund woman than the average instance [of consensual sex]."

How Women's Behavior Alters During Ovulation

While there is no reliable scientific indication that women's libido rises during ovulation and the days leading up to it, studies have indicated that there are detectable cues that a woman is within her fertile period. Women's bodies become slightly more symmetrical when they are fertile, their gait is considered "sexier", and their skin becomes slightly paler. Research even shows that a woman's voice is more high-pitched when she is close to ovulation. Research further shows that women are more likely to wear revealing clothing and engage in flirtatious behavior when they are fertile — whether or not they themselves are aware that they are ovulating. 

Only would-be rapists, who are apparently willing to push themselves on a woman whether or not she wants to have sex with them, however, could freely act upon this animal instinct to detect — presumably subconsciously — that a women is fertile. 

"...Due to the rapist's ability to transcend the limitations of female choice, the average episode of rape might be more likely to occur with an ovulating woman than the average episode of consensual sex," the study authors conclude, adding: "Even a marginal advantage in this domain could pay large reproductive dividends."

Todd Akin, in other words, couldn't be more wrong. Women, rather than having some magical mechanism that might prevent them from becoming pregnant after rape, are more vulnerable to being violated by men already willing to engage in crimes when they are at their most fertile.