People can say whatever they want about abortion, but if they really want to bring their point across in an intelligent and convincing way, they should at least educate themselves so they can avoid saying inane–and extremely disrespectful–crap like what Todd Akin, the Republian Senator nominee from Missouri, said Sunday. In case you've been living under a rock and haven't heard his response to whether or not rape victims should have access to abortions, here's his exact quote: "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."
While Akin's remarks may be one of the most ignorant comments made recently by a politican, sadly there are a lot of other stupid myths surrounding the topic of getting pregnant and I'm sure you've heard some of them–heck you might even believe one or two!
Read more in ¿Qué más?: Senate candidate Todd Akin 'legitimate rape' abortion comments are beyond ignorant (VIDEO)
So, read on and educate yourself and let us know if there are any other myths we should know about in the comments below.
You can't get pregnant when you're raped
I'll start with Akin's favorite one because he's not the only moron politician to have made the same claim. Others have said stated that when women get raped, fear makes them generate hormones that prevents them from getting pregnant! Really? So how did the more than 32,000 rape victims who get pregnant every year end up like that?
You can't get pregnant when you have your period
I can't remember how many times I heard this one when I was a teen and you probably did too. Although this one could kind of make sense if you understand the reasoning behind menstruation, the reality is that according to the National Institute of Health Sciences there are actually very few "safe" days in which you can have sex without getting pregnant.
You can't get pregnant the first time you have sex
Another one of those I heard constantly as a teen, usually from some moronic guy trying to get in my pants. I mean, what teenager hasn't heard this one or even used this one himself? It doesn't matter if it's the first time or the tenth time, all you need for conception is for sperm to fertilize an egg. That's it!
You can't get pregnant if he pulls out before ejaculating
And yet another myth from my teenage years. Also known as the withdrawal method, while it may work for some, it's way too risky to use it as a birth control method. In fact, even when a man is able to pull out before ejaculation, 4 out of every 100 women will still get pregnant, according to Planned Parenthood.
You can't get pregnant if you don't have an orgasm
I find this one extremely funny. I mean, what does one thing have to do with the other? Having an orgasm is in no way related to sperm's ability to fertilize an egg.
You can't get pregnant if you have sex in the water
I don't think I had heard this one before, but apperently some people think it's actually true. And yet, the same thing that applies to all the other myths applies to this one too. All you need in order to get pregnant is for sperm to fertilize your egg. This is something that happens internally, so the water surrounding your body has absolutely no effect.
You can't get pregnant if you douche, pee or shower immediately after having sex
You can't do any of these things fast enough after sex as to keep sperm from fertilizing an egg. Some people have gone as far as douching with sodas (such as Coca-Cola or Mountain Dew), which supposedly kills sperm. But the possible side-effects to the reproductive tract are simply not worth the risk.
