Reality Check says that when Todd Akin was spouting off about "legitimate rape," he was simply parroting the junk science of right-wing doctors who are trying to diminish rape so that they can gain more control over women's bodies. Mitt Romney had no problem with this kind of thinking in 2007, when he was trying to convince Republicans he was a real conservative:

This lesson in voodoo reproductive biology finds it basis in a long line of witch doctors willing to make things up out of thin air in their quest to control women's bodies. One such "doctor" is John Willke. It turns out that Mitt Romney is tied to Dr. Willke through a campaign umbilical cord.

Mitt Romney himself welcomed and touted the endorsement of Dr. John Willke in 2007.

The sickest about this Akin mess is that Akin simply said out loud what every Republican lawmaker believes. Hell, it looks like the Republican platform will even overtly state it. But because Akin said it the way that he did, they have to cast him out. This is what they believe, and this is what they say, when they think nobody's paying attention.