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.)
Given that the bill also would forbid the use of tax benefits to pay for abortions, that 13-year-old’s parents wouldn’t be allowed to use money from a tax-exempt health savings account (HSA) to pay for the procedure. They also wouldn’t be able to deduct the cost of the abortion or the cost of any insurance that paid for it as a medical expense.
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.
As for the incest exception, the bill would only allow federally funded abortions if the woman is under 18.
This bill makes me want to force the people endorsing it to watch videos of back-alley abortions where the woman bleeds out and dies until their eyes bleed and their ears are numb from her pained screaming.
a bill with 173 mostly Republican co-sponsors that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has dubbed a top priority in the new Congress
Yes, saving a few dollars by not funding abortions of “non violent rapes” is certainly a top priority. Here i was thinking that the economy/jobs was what was important, but nope, abortions.
No matter what crazy views some people have on abortion, it is hard to imagine so many people thought it was even worth the time with how bad things are these days. Obvious fan service to the Religious Right.
By redefining rape you also have the positive side benefit of reducing the number of rapes that happen in the country. Overnight crime statistics improve!
Next we should redefine murder, assault, car accidents and homelessness.
No, those things tend go happen to guys as often as girls. Rape is someone elses’ problem when one is incapable of real empathy, and besides, she was probably asking for it, dressing like that. And it doesn’t count if she’s unconscious!
You can’t kill roaches but they tend to run hide when you turn on the light. I’d like to see this story highlighted in big bold typeface on all the mainstream media outlets.
(oops, I used inflammatory language and said “kill roaches.”)
I think it’s important to point out every idiotic thing these guys do as obviously as possible. If this is what they care about, the public should know about it.
Don Quixote was dreaming of himself as the heroic figure in a story about a knight killing giants. The republicans are dreaming of themselves as the heroic figures in a story about old men forcing the victims of rape and incest to carry unwanted babies to term.
The kind of windmills you tilt at says something about who you are.
The GOP does so much of this it well and truly baffles me why anyone supports them, particularly women. What was it, 2 years ago, when the GOP senators basically voted against any basic rights regarding rape crimes for women in the services working overseas? It was the Franken bill.
I’d really like to see the Daily Show dig up all that fiery rhetoric that the GOP and Fox News was dishing out a couple of years ago when they felt that the Democrats were wasting time on legislation that had no chance of passing. Remember the hue and cry about “political theater?”
Well, they aren’t going to accomplish either of those things, either, which once again begs the question “why try?” They say they have to try because they promised their constituents that they would try, which would be all fine and well if they hadn’t just made such a big deal over how terrible the Democrats were for doing exactly the same thing.
If the House Republicans were truly Machiavellian, one could postulate that they were sending up things like this that they knew (a) would never clear the Senate and (b) they could point to when returning to their base. “See! I tried to make those heathen women prove they were really-really raped, not just kind of raped!”
However, that requires a certain level of plotting and intellect that, to put it charitably, they have not yet demonstrated.
