The House GOP's Plan to Redefine Rape

[Derechos]

Drugged, raped, and pregnant? Too bad. Republicans are pushing to limit rape and incest cases eligible for government abortion funding.

— By Nick Baumann

Rape is only really rape if it involves force. So says the new House Republican majority as it now moves to change abortion law.

For years, federal laws restricting the use of government funds to pay for abortions have included exemptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. (Another exemption covers pregnancies that could endanger the life of the woman.) But the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act," a bill with 173 mostly Republican co-sponsors that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has dubbed a top priority in the new Congress, contains a provision that would rewrite the rules to limit drastically the definition of rape and incest in these cases.

With this legislation, which was introduced last week by Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Republicans propose that the rape exemption be limited to "forcible rape." This would rule out federal assistance for abortions in many rape cases, including instances of statutory rape, many of which are non-forcible. For example: If a 13-year-old girl is impregnated by a 24-year-old adult, she would no longer qualify to have Medicaid pay for an abortion. (Smith's spokesman did not respond to a call and an email requesting comment.)

snip

There used to be a quasi-truce between the pro- and anti-choice forces on the issue of federal funding for abortion. Since 1976, federal law has prohibited the use of taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions except in the cases of rape, incest, and when the pregnancy endangers the life of the woman. But since last year, the anti-abortion side has become far more aggressive in challenging this compromise. They have been pushing to outlaw tax deductions for insurance plans that cover abortion, even if the abortion coverage is never used. The Smith bill represents a frontal attack on these long-standing exceptions.

"This bill takes us backwards to a time when just saying no wasn't enough to qualify as rape.""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. Laurie Levenson, a former assistant US attorney and expert on criminal law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, notes that 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.

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/01/republican-plan-redefine-rape-abortion

[niyad]

1. k and r--there seems to be no limit to the woman-hating of the repukes.

[Jamastiene]

2. Many in the GOP do not even believe there is a such thing as rape.

The ones who do even acknowledge that there is a such thing as rape, swear up and down a woman cannot get pregnant from being raped. They claim all sorts of factually inaccurate bullshit and idiots believe them.

[niyad]

3. yes, I remember man-on-dog santorum saying that no woman could get pregnant from a rape because she

would secrete an enzyme that would prevent it.

and THIS cretin is being touted as a 2012 possibility?

[patrick t. cakes]

12. Wha??

good god these people are the worst of the worst.

:scared: :puke:

[TheWraith]

15. I don't think that was Santorum, I think it was someone else. Helms maybe? nt

[demigoddess]

4. when oh when will these people

stop putting government into our private lives? When will they start allowing us to have freedom of religion when we don't belong to their churches? When will they allow women the same rights as men?? When will they start stoning us in the marketplace?? Not new questions actually.

[Tesha]

5. A big part of the problem is that "our side" has no stomach for fighting for us.

> There used to be a quasi-truce between the pro- and
> anti-choice forces on the issue of federal funding
> for abortion.

One wonders why there was a "quasi-truce"...

Tesha

[fascisthunter]

6. this in a spiritual sense should be considered evil

but once again, I will defer to science and state that they are a bunch of fucked up sociopaths.

[Trajan]

7. It's what the people have been clamoring for ....

They arent worried about jobs, war or public education .... :sarcasm:

[angstlessk]

8. I think the saying goes..."shrink the government enough so it fits nicely into a woman's uterus"

grrrrrrrr

[niyad]

9. that's about the size of it--we are closer to "the handmaid's tale" every day

[undergroundpanther]

10. assholes

I think they need their so called "dick privileges" revoked.

Anyone that wants to blame a rape victim and force her to give birth in a sane country they'd be run out of office.
Fucking evil repuke taliban womb tyrants.

[Danger Mouse]

11. Scumbags, the lot of them.

[MadMaddie]

13. This is actually an opportunity for the Democratic Party

to take one of the Repug mantra's and use it to our advantage.

What is it?

We want women to keep their rights of their bodies and we want government out of our lives...specifically the Republicans.

We need to own it...

[Solly Mack]

14. Pieces of shit

[Odin2005]

16. THOSE FUCKING MISOGYNIST FUCKERS! They need their asses kicked!

This is an insult to all victims of date rape. this is APPALLING.

[RagAss]

17. This is what happens when people stay home on election day.

I'm getting sick of saying it.

[Mushroom]

18. Rapist Sympathizers

Own the title, conservatives. Your hateful, violent nature knows no bounds.

[chollybocker]

19. "John Boehner (R-Ohio) has dubbed a top priority in the new Congress"

This is one of John Boehner's "top priorit(ies)."

Not the wars. Not the economy. Not jobs, nor education, nor his humble bootstraps; not even a care for his legendary handicap.

No, dear Ladies, his first act as Speaker is to make sure that the Man who raped you gets a 'fair shake' in the court of law. Although John's not the kind of guy who would personally slip a girl a mickey, he surely has lots of friends with war stories to tell. But I digress.

Also, Ladies, if you choose to have this rape-ensuing embryo removed from your uterus, you are obliged to listen to stupid people outside the clinic yell obsceneties at you.

It's all about Priorities for John Boehner!