Fellow Republican Senate candidates buffeted Rep. Todd Akin with condemnation Monday over his controversial comments on rape, with GOP Sen. Scott Brown going so far as to call on Akin to bow out of his race for Senate in Missouri.
Akin, a six-term GOP congressman challenging Democratic Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill for her seat, found himself quickly isolated by Republicans after telling an interviewer that a woman's body can typically prevent pregnancy during a "legitimate rape" -- as he argued against allowing abortions in cases of rape, claiming such pregnancies are uncommon in the first place.
"It seems to me first of all, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare," Akin said. "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."
Akin has since backed off the comment, saying he "misspoke."
But by Monday, several other GOP Senate candidates were putting serious distance between their campaigns and his, as they tried to head off Democratic efforts to link Akin's comments to other members of the party.
Brown, who's in a tough race against President Obama ally Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts, tweeted that he found Akin's remarks to be "outrageous."
He followed up with a written statement calling on Akin to bow out.
"As a husband and father of two young women, I found Todd Akin's comments about women and rape outrageous, inappropriate and wrong," Brown said. "There is no place in our public discourse for this type of offensive thinking. Not only should he apologize, but I believe Rep. Akin's statement was so far out of bounds that he should resign the nomination for U.S. Senate in Missouri."
Other Republicans in tough Senate races were similarly critical, without calling on Akin to step aside.
Rep. Jeff Flake, who is running for Senate in Arizona, tweeted that Akin's comment was "wrong."
"I oppose abortion, but exceptions must be made for rape, incest and to protect life of the mother," he said.
Virginia Senate candidate George Allen and Montana Senate candidate Rep. Denny Rehberg reportedly have joined in the rebuke -- as has Akin's former primary opponent Sarah Steelman, who tweeted that she found the comments "inexcusable, insulting and embarrassing to the GOP."
Mitt Romney gave a similar verdict in an interview with The National Review.
"Congressman's Akin comments on rape are insulting, inexcusable, and, frankly, wrong," Romney said.
Nevertheless, the Akin remarks became fast fodder for the Democratic National Committee, as Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz tried to link Akin's stance to the Romney campaign.
"Now, Akin's choice of words isn't the real issue here. The real issue is a Republican Party -- led by Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan -- whose policies on women and their health are dangerously wrong," she said in an email directing supporters to sign an anti-Romney petition on the DNC website.
She cited Romney's past comments on wanting to "get rid" of federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
The DNC email follows a pattern of trying to characterize the Romney ticket as "dangerous" to women, fueled in this case by comments from a congressman not tied to the presidential campaign.
McCaskill, who is seeking a second term, said in an emailed statement Sunday that she found the comments "offensive."
"It is beyond comprehension that someone can be so ignorant about the emotional and physical trauma brought on by rape," McCaskill said. "The ideas that Todd Akin has expressed about the serious crime of rape and the impact on its victims are offensive."
Akin clarified his remarks in a written statement.
"In reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it's clear that I misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy I hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year," Akin's statement said. "Those who perpetrate these crimes are the lowest of the low in our society and their victims will have no stronger advocate in the Senate to help ensure they have the justice they deserve."
Akin also said in the statement he believes "deeply in the protection of all life and I do not believe that harming another innocent victim is the right course of action."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
