ABORTING AKIN
Robert Roy MacGregor (1671-1734) became a Scottish folk hero by fighting English perfidy. In 1817, Sir Walter Scott wrote a historical novel about his life, entitled with the name he is known to history: Rob Roy. In 1995, Liam Neeson played the hero in a movie based on Scott's book, Rob Roy.
It's a terrific action flick, with the climactic duel between Rob Roy and the villain Cunningham (Tim Roth) one of filmdom's greatest sword fights. But that's not why I remember it. The scene that has always stayed with me is when Rob Roy's wife Mary (Jessica Lange) tells him that she is pregnant as a result of her being raped by Cunningham, and asks him apprehensively what to do. In tears, she admits, "I could not kill it, husband."
His response: "It is not the child who needs killing."
He steps outside the dark cottage into the daylight. Mary knows he is off to challenge Cunningham to the death, who is a far better swordsman than he. "What if you do not return to us?" she asks with fear in her eyes.
With a tender smile, he answers, "If it's a boy, call him Robert. If a lass, name her for my love - Mary MacGregor."
This is possibly the most touchingly pro-life scene in motion picture history. If Todd Akin had recalled it to explain his pro-life position, rather than his crackpot "legitimate rape" irrelevancy, he'd still be an unknown politician beyond the borders of Missouri.