Akin in 2008: ‘Terrorist’ doctors give ‘abortions to women who are not actually pregnant’

who sparked a firestorm of criticism with his comments about "legitimate rape" in August--gave a speech on the House floor in 2008 in which he called those who perform abortions "terrorists" and claimed some do so on "women who are not actually pregnant."
"It is no big surprise that we fight the terrorists because they are fundamentally un-American, and yet we have terrorists in our own culture called abortionists," Akin said in the Jan. 22, 2008 speech. "One of the good pieces of news why we are winning this war is because there are not enough heartless doctors being graduated from medical schools. There is a real shortage of abortionists.
"Who wants to be at the very bottom of the food chain of medical profession?" Akin continued. "And what sort of places do these bottom-of-the-food-chain doctors work in? Places that are really a pit. You find that along with the culture of death go all kinds of other law-breaking: not following good sanitary procedure, giving abortions to women who are not actually pregnant, cheating on taxes, all these kinds of things, misuse of anesthetics so that people die or almost die."
[Related: Akin (still) staying in Missouri Senate race]
"Akin's allegation of doctors performing abortions on non-pregnant women is particularly puzzling," Mollie Reilly wrote on the Huffington Post, "since, by definition, an abortion cannot be performed if there is no pregnancy to terminate."
The embattled Republican has fought a flurry of calls from GOP leaders to abandon his Senate campaign against incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill after suggesting that victims of "legitimate rape" could not become pregnant.
Akin apologized, saying he misspoke, but has continually refused to drop out of the race. And a recent poll shows him narrowly leading McCaskill.