The GOP? Screwing over women? NEVER.
Jan. 28th, 2011 03:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
salienneSo the GOP wants to be really really sure that federal taxpayer money doesn't go towards abortions women don't get abortions. They are so concerned about this, in fact, that they've decided to legislate "forcible rape" as the only "real" kind of rape, the only one worthy of an exception to the Hyde Amendment.
The text of the relevant part of the Bill:
The limitations established in sections 301, 302, 303, and 304 shall not apply to an abortion--
(1) if the pregnancy occurred because the pregnant female was the subject of an act of forcible rape or, if a minor, an act of incest;
To put this into perspective (source):
"This bill takes us back to a time when just saying 'no' wasn't enough to qualify as rape," says Steph Sterling, a lawyer and senior adviser to the National Women's Law Center. [...] the new bill's authors are "using language that's not particularly clear, and some people are going to lose protection." Other types of rapes that would no longer be covered by the exemption include rapes in which the woman was drugged or given excessive amounts of alcohol, rapes of women with limited mental capacity, and many date rapes. "There are a lot of aspects of rape that are not included," Levenson says.
As for the incest exception, the bill would only allow federally funded abortions if the woman is under 18.
The bill hasn't been carefully constructed, Levenson notes. The term "forcible rape" is not defined in the federal criminal code, and the bill's authors don't offer their own definition. In some states, there is no legal definition of "forcible rape," making it unclear whether any abortions would be covered by the rape exemption in those jurisdictions.
If you're in the US and are horrified by this as I am, I urge you to contact your Congressional representatives.
In case anyone is interested, the letter I wrote can be found behind the cut:
Dear Congressman,
My name is [salienne], and I am a woman in your district. I am one of your constituents. I am one of those you are meant to be working for, and I am someone who knows women who have been raped. I am someone who, if raped, could get pregnant, and it would be wrong, horrifying, heartless, and downright reprehensible to force me to carry that pregnancy to term. It is wrong, horrifying, heartless, and downright reprehensible to force any woman to carry any unwanted pregnancy to term, but particularly a pregnancy resulting from rape.
And yet, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, supported by House Speaker John Boehner, would like for me to know that if the rape is not “forcible,” if I am not raped in the ‘right’ way, and if I can’t afford an abortion even though having a rapist’s fetus growing inside me is one of the worst horrors I can possibly imagine, then I’ll be forced to suffer even further physical and psychological trauma as I carry that fetus to term.
To say this is cruel is an understatement.
Rape is not always about force. Rape is not just about dark alleyways and knives or someone holding you down. Rape is about an absence of consent—when you’ve been drugged, when you’re too young, when you’re asleep. Incapacitated rape and statutory rape are rape too, and they are just as illegal, can harm just as much. Rape is about someone taking and violating your body without your permission, and all this bill does is further punish women for undergoing a horrific crime against their person.
For anyone to support this bill that so radically narrows the definition of rape, pro-life or otherwise, shows nothing but a marked indifference to women. Anyone who supports this bill just does not care about half of their constituency, many of whom have been raped, many of whom may even have gotten pregnant as a result of that rape.
If this bill comes to the Senate floor, I urge you, Senator, to vote against the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. I urge you to show that you do care about the women around you—those who are your friends, your family, and your constituents. I urge you to show that you support women in general and women who have survived rape in particular. I urge you, with my words here and my eventual vote, to vote against this absurdly sexist and cruel piece of legislation.
Sincerely,
[salienne]
The text of the relevant part of the Bill:
The limitations established in sections 301, 302, 303, and 304 shall not apply to an abortion--
(1) if the pregnancy occurred because the pregnant female was the subject of an act of forcible rape or, if a minor, an act of incest;
To put this into perspective (source):
"This bill takes us back to a time when just saying 'no' wasn't enough to qualify as rape," says Steph Sterling, a lawyer and senior adviser to the National Women's Law Center. [...] the new bill's authors are "using language that's not particularly clear, and some people are going to lose protection." Other types of rapes that would no longer be covered by the exemption include rapes in which the woman was drugged or given excessive amounts of alcohol, rapes of women with limited mental capacity, and many date rapes. "There are a lot of aspects of rape that are not included," Levenson says.
As for the incest exception, the bill would only allow federally funded abortions if the woman is under 18.
The bill hasn't been carefully constructed, Levenson notes. The term "forcible rape" is not defined in the federal criminal code, and the bill's authors don't offer their own definition. In some states, there is no legal definition of "forcible rape," making it unclear whether any abortions would be covered by the rape exemption in those jurisdictions.
If you're in the US and are horrified by this as I am, I urge you to contact your Congressional representatives.
In case anyone is interested, the letter I wrote can be found behind the cut:
Dear Congressman,
My name is [salienne], and I am a woman in your district. I am one of your constituents. I am one of those you are meant to be working for, and I am someone who knows women who have been raped. I am someone who, if raped, could get pregnant, and it would be wrong, horrifying, heartless, and downright reprehensible to force me to carry that pregnancy to term. It is wrong, horrifying, heartless, and downright reprehensible to force any woman to carry any unwanted pregnancy to term, but particularly a pregnancy resulting from rape.
And yet, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, supported by House Speaker John Boehner, would like for me to know that if the rape is not “forcible,” if I am not raped in the ‘right’ way, and if I can’t afford an abortion even though having a rapist’s fetus growing inside me is one of the worst horrors I can possibly imagine, then I’ll be forced to suffer even further physical and psychological trauma as I carry that fetus to term.
To say this is cruel is an understatement.
Rape is not always about force. Rape is not just about dark alleyways and knives or someone holding you down. Rape is about an absence of consent—when you’ve been drugged, when you’re too young, when you’re asleep. Incapacitated rape and statutory rape are rape too, and they are just as illegal, can harm just as much. Rape is about someone taking and violating your body without your permission, and all this bill does is further punish women for undergoing a horrific crime against their person.
For anyone to support this bill that so radically narrows the definition of rape, pro-life or otherwise, shows nothing but a marked indifference to women. Anyone who supports this bill just does not care about half of their constituency, many of whom have been raped, many of whom may even have gotten pregnant as a result of that rape.
If this bill comes to the Senate floor, I urge you, Senator, to vote against the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. I urge you to show that you do care about the women around you—those who are your friends, your family, and your constituents. I urge you to show that you support women in general and women who have survived rape in particular. I urge you, with my words here and my eventual vote, to vote against this absurdly sexist and cruel piece of legislation.
Sincerely,
[salienne]