Marvin Warren "Henry" Aldridge (April 27, 1923 – February 2, 2002) was a dentist and member of the

North Carolina House of Representatives The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Speaker of the House, who holds powers si ...

. A native of

Craven County, North Carolina Craven County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 100,720. Its county seat is New Bern. The county was created in 1705 as Archdale Precinct from the now-extinct Bath County. It w ...

, he moved to Greenville in the 1940s, and obtained his undergraduate degree from

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

(ECU). He received his dental degree from the Medical College of Virginia School of Dentistry in 1950. (longer version of AP obituary article) Aldridge practiced as a dentist in

Greenville, North Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is the county seat of and the most populous city in Pitt County, North Carolina, United States. It is the principal city of the Greenville, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, and the List of municipalities in North Carolina, 12t ...

for 50 years. Aldridge served on the Greenville City Council for a number of terms, and was elected to the North Carolina House (Ninth District) in 1994, defeating Democratic incumbent Charles McLawhorn. He achieved notoriety in 1995 when he asserted that rape victims could not get pregnant. In the context of a debate regarding whether the state should stop funding abortions for poor women, he stated, "The facts show that people who are raped, who are truly raped, the juices don't flow, the body functions don't work, and they don't get pregnant." He later stated that his comments were "stupid." Aldridge's 1995 comments were revisited in August 2012, in light of

controversy Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin '' controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an op ...

surrounding U.S. Senate candidate

Todd Akin William Todd Akin (July 5, 1947 – October 3, 2021) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2001 to 2013. He was a member of the Republican Party. Born in New York City, Akin grew up in the Greater St. Louis ...

's similar comments. He was re-elected to his seat in 1996. In 1998, Aldridge also received some press attention when, noting a report that non-white

infant mortality Infant mortality is the death of an infant before the infant's first birthday. The occurrence of infant mortality in a population can be described by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the number of deaths of infants under one year of age ...

rates were nearly twice as high as for white infants, commented that he doubted the report "because it seems that most of the black people I know are bigger and tougher and stronger than whites." Aldridge said afterwards that his comments were intended to be complimentary, as "Black men are generally bigger, strong, better athletes. I would suggest that you take a look at the professional baseball, basketball, and football teams." Aldridge retired from office in 1998, after losing to Democratic candidate Marian N. McLawhorn in the 1998 election. He died at age 78 on February 2, 2002. Aldridge was also very active in community organizations, serving as president of the Pitt-Greenville Chamber of Commerce, Greenville Lion's Club, Greenville Boy's Club, and Greenville Little League. He also served as president of the ECU Alumni Association.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldridge, Henry 1923 births 2002 deaths Republican Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives People from Greenville, North Carolina East Carolina University alumni 21st-century American dentists North Carolina city council members Medical College of Virginia alumni People from Craven County, North Carolina 20th-century American dentists 20th-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly