Huckabee reiterated his misogynistic views in 2012 when he defended U.S. representative Todd Akin for making the incendiary public statement that abortion shouldn’t be legal, even in rape cases. As Akin explained his views, “It seems to me, from what I understand from doctors, that [conception after rape is] 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.”
