Ex-Rep. Akin defends 'legitimate rape' remarks

ST. LOUIS - A former Missouri Republican congressman whose "legitimate rape" comments during the 2012 U.S. Senate campaign were roundly criticized now says he was wrong to apologize.

Todd Akin writes in a new political memoir that his remarks on whether abortion should be legal in cases of rape were taken out of context and led to his "political assassination" and betrayal by GOP allies. The 67-year-old Akin, who spent 12 years in Congress and another dozen as a state lawmaker, lost to Democrat Claire McCaskill.

Firing Back: Taking on the Party Bosses and Media Elite to Protect Our Faith and Freedom will be released next week, but the Associated Press obtained an advance copy Thursday from the publisher, WND Books, an arm of the conservative website WorldNetDaily.

During an interview with a local TV reporter, Akin asserted that rape victims are less likely to get pregnant because "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

The 209-page book includes a foreword by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who, like Akin, criticizes Republican leaders for abandoning the candidate soon after his remarks garnered national attention and almost immediately dominated the campaign. Some blamed Akin - who resisted calls to drop out of the race - for costing Republicans a chance to gain a majority in the Senate.