It’s more than just being a liar. These “facts” get passed around in anti-abortion circles without being challenged. Todd Akin saying “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down” is the same thing. They aren’t strictly lying; they believe it’s true because the people they talk to say this all the time and nobody calls it out. It gets to be quite the shock when their “fact” gets out to the public at large. Suddenly, someone says “no, that’s not right, and here’s proof” and they don’t know what to do but repeat the claim and go ahead and do what they were going to do, anyway.
It’s more than just being a liar. These “facts” get passed around in anti-abortion circles without being challenged. Todd Akin saying “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down” is the same thing. They aren’t strictly lying; they believe it’s true because the people they talk to say this all the time and nobody calls it out. It gets to be quite the shock when their “fact” gets out to the public at large. Suddenly, someone says “no, that’s not right, and here’s proof” and they don’t know what to do but repeat the claim and go ahead and do what they were going to do, anyway.