John Boehner said last week that eliminating federal funding for abortions is one of the Republicans highest priorities and right on schedule, Representative Chris Smith (R-N.J.) introduced a bill to stop the government from using taxpayer money to pay for abortions. The bill, “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” contains a provision that will rewrite the rules to radically change the definition of rape and incest. Under the federal rules in place since 1976, the only reason federal funds can be used for an abortion is in the case of rape, incest, or the health of the mother.
The rape exemption, under the new rules, will only be allowed in the case of forcible rape that Republicans are making harder to prove with new language to end the exemption all together. The new Republican majority is also including language in the bill that rewrites the definition of incest to further restrict abortions.
Republicans are also redefining rape so that statutory rape and date rape are not covered because under the new definitions, force is not a factor. What that means is if a 48-year-old-man impregnates an eleven-year-old girl, and is convicted of statutory rape, no Federal funds can be used to abort the pregnancy because the man did not “forcibly” rape the child. It is inconceivable that Republicans could be so heartless, but it gets worse.
If the eleven-year-old girl’s parents have a tax-exempt health savings plan, the parents would not be allowed to use their own money to pay to have the pregnancy aborted. Tax-exempt health savings are accounts that individuals pay into for pre-tax considerations, and can use the funds for any health issue that may come up. There is no federal money involved; it is a case where Republicans are dictating to individuals what they can use their own money for. Also under the Republican’s bill, the parents could not deduct as a medical expense any money they spend on aborting the child’s pregnancy; even if they pay cash out-of-pocket.
The anti-abortion crowd is pressuring Republican legislators into eliminating any reason for abortion whether Federal funds are used or not. A case of date-rape where a woman or girl is drugged and unconscious and raped is not considered rape because there was no force used; because they were incapacitated. The men who are making these laws apparently don’t think a woman can say no to sex, and want them physically assaulted before it is called rape. The language of the bill also doesn’t consider a case to be rape if the woman has limited mental capacity.
One of the co-chairs of the congressional pro-choice caucus, Representative Diana DeGette (D-Colo), said that, “The bill goes far beyond current law,” and that the re-definition of the rape exception “is only one element of an extreme bill.” Pro-abortion rights groups think the bill is a means of ending private health insurance coverage for abortion, and that the bill will have a dramatic effect on women, which is an understatement.
These forced-birth Republicans are using their religion to control women, and by redefining rape, have set women’s rights back generations. Redefining rape is a direct assault on all women, and a form of tyranny that rivals extremist Islam. By redefining rape to eliminate exemptions and control health insurance coverage, Republicans are dictating how citizens spend their own money. It is hypocritical of Republicans who want to repeal the health care mandate because it says all Americans must carry health insurance, but are telling women they cannot spend their own money to pay for abortions or carry a health insurance policy that includes abortion coverage whether they use the policy for an abortion or not.
The question for the hypocrites and bible-thumpers is; who are tyrants and who is stealing liberty? The Christian legislature is depriving women of their freedom to not be raped, and is imposing tyrannical rules on women. Christo-Republicans are not going to pay for the bastard’s health care, education, schooling or any of the financial burdens the raped woman will face for the 18 years she is responsible for the bastard.
The next step for forced-birth Christo-Republicans is to eliminate the exemption in case of the mother’s health. Will they claim that the woman has already lived 20, 30, or 40 years so it is acceptable to let the woman die to give the fetus an opportunity to live? Christo-Republicans will dictate which life is worth saving if they have the chance; especially if the fetus is male. It sounds extreme, but it is not far-fetched based on the misogynists in Congress and churches that hold women in such low esteem.
The Constitution forbids using religious dogma to make laws, but Christo-Republicans have as little regard for the Constitution as they do for women. Now that Christo-Republicans have a Supreme Court Justice who decided the Constitution does not guarantee equal rights for women, things will only get worse and the misogynists will ratchet up their tyranny against women.
According to the law, rape is one person having sex with another person against their will. Republicans who suck money and support from bible-thumping misogynists want to change the definition so a man can impregnate a woman with impunity and the woman must give birth to the bastard. Americans were outraged when Serbians conducted ethnic cleansing in Bosnia by raping women, and in fact, the global community intervened in Bosnia to stop the ethnic cleansing by rape and America played a key role in stopping the practice.
Now Republicans are condoning forced-birth and punishing the victims by changing the definition of rape. One can only wonder; if a Christo-Republican discovered their 11-year-old mentally-disabled daughter was raped, would they call it non-rape and force the child to have the bastard? Based on the Christo-Republicans’ hypocrisy, they would not. They would simply redefine a word to fit their purpose, and then go back to their tyranny against women. It is after all, the Christo-Republican way.
Image: objectifythis.com
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- Republican Offers Rape Victims 72 Hours of Freedom
- South Carolina GOP continues abortion push, must include ‘fetal pain’ information
- Abortion Doc Compares the US Anti-Abortion Movement to the Taliban
How is rape by definition not forceful? This is as big an absurdity as can be imagined, Rmuse, and thank you for dealing with it here. You’ve slapped them down hard and bravo to you for it! This is an outrage and it cannot go unopposed by any decent American. Let’s roll up our sleeves and get it on.
This news ruined my whole day Hraf. I hope you don’t mind that I used your brilliant “Christo” prefix. I did major edits 3 times to remove the curse words and vitriol. As you pointed out, by definition, “Rape” is forceful.
I know these people have mothers, daughters, wives sisters etc. and still are treating them like they are less than human. I agree also that it’s an issue any decent American should be furious over. I’m not letting it go unchallenged and it’s excellent to have allies.
I agree- WELL DONE Rmuse. I don’t think I could have written about this; the rage, the ridiculousness, the insult.
But, if rape isn’t rape unless it’s “forcible” then I suggest those boys line up for some “unforcible” rape, just to show us all that it doesn’t hurt mentally or physically. Remember the big boys saying waterboarding wasn’t torture, they’d do it any day? And they lasted what………a few seconds? Uh huh.
They are a pack of swaggering pseudo alpha males; talk tough but underneath it all, weak men who lack the fundamental compassion and empathy that gives true strength of character.
I prefer the term coined by comedian Marc Maron: “Christofascist Zombie Brigade.”
We are back to the old assumption at law that a sexual act inflicted on a woman isn’t “real” rape unless the victim “resisted to the utmost”, and that if she couldn’t “resist to the utmost” because she was a sixty-pound child or a cripple, or drugged or knocked unconscious, or too addled for any understanding of what was going on – tough nuggies. Furthermore, under the Magna Carta, a woman couldn’t testify as to her own rape, and even when she became legally able to do so, the court was required to caution the jury that she was likely to be lying. Babies were declared by the Church to be inherently demonic until they were, at a minimum, baptized, and women told their pregnancies were shameful events where their bellies were filled with demonic spawn as punishment for the sins of Eve, as well as their own sin in having ever had sex at all, however lawfully or pleasurelessly. This attitude is just barely under the skin of the whackwing Right, and I expect that, like a warble maggot, it will emerge in its full, naked ugliness any time.
You know, I believe in karma. I believe the universe gives us as many opportunities to learn and right our wrongs as it takes. Having said that, I pray for all the men who vote on how and when and why a woman’s body can be violently (or drugged or coerced) violated, because the way I see it, they are practically begging for their daughters, mothers, sisters, aunts, girlfriends, mistresses to be raped. Will it take that tragedy for them to shut the f up? To realize that this is not a joke or a political game? That a woman should be the one to decide what happens with her body? Because trust me, the universe is persistent, life wishes us to learn. I hate that it should have to come to this, but trust me, it will.
Out of respect for your decency I will refrain from cursing as much as I wish to about this, but suffice it to say, I am holding back so much anger at these selfish, shortsighted obtuse mother@#$%ers. Trying not to hate all men right now based on the actions of a few.
la Zingaro – We have to make this Karma ourselves. I am a Zen Buddhist but I know the universe or whatever will not intervene. We have to do it. Women and men. It is an outrage that cannot stand and it stems from religious dogma. But till that ends, it is up to Americans to bring the Karmic pressure down hard on these vile human beings. Don’t hate all men though, there are many fighting for women’s rights.
I think that this is an incredible move that should have even republican women enraged. Most certainly combining religion with law. This is perhaps the most severe action the republican party could take to force their will (rape if you will) upon women. I am not sure how the Supreme Court will see this. Given the fact that we have to totally corrupted conservative judges on the bench I would imagine it might pass.
Before this year I thought we were approaching any time when human rights were going to se a blossoming. Don’t ask don’t tell was passed & the healthcare bill was passed. As only serving to prove to me know while we should have a Republican Party, they should never be in power. My only hope is that the women of the Republican Party where not been held down by the men, and the people of the United States speak out against this blatant act to repress women’s rights. It’s time for some activism
I think that this is an incredible move that should have even republican women enraged.
It doesn’t. The bill has a few Republican women co-sponsoring it. However, there are no Democratic women sponsoring it, unlike 12 cavemen Democrats. In fact, now that the Blue Dogs were wiped out, are there any other “pro-life” Democratic women in the House left besides Marcy Kaptur?
Ever since these bozos took over the House of Representatives, they have shown that their claims to be about fiscal responsibility are just a smoke screen for the fact that they are spoiling for a cultural wars fight. Why else would they run the risk of jeopardizing so many women and children in the name of ideology? It’s obvious that they want to turn back the clock by eviscerating laws that have not only protected women and children, but have also served to bring rapists to justice. One thing about the Party of No is certain. Whenever they do come to power, they invariably overplay their hand, resulting in election defeats. They seem incapable of learning from history.
An addendum only slightly off-point: some columnist in the Wall Street Journal seems to keep saying that liberal women hate Sarah Palin because she threatens their sexual identity. I fail to see how one woman’s politics threaten another woman’s identity, but there is as much cause for most women’s resentment of right-wing women’s misogyny as there is for, say, African Americans to resent Clarence Thomas’s anti-black racism or the rabid anti-Hispanicism of certain politicians whose surnames are eloquent. It is not only a heartless betrayal; it is used to prove “them” “right.” The attitude becomes ingrained in any group whose status has been made servile, however; just a couple or three decades back, no prosecutor would seat a woman on a rape jury because she was sure to blame the victim.
Read the WSJ push for the half-gov…THe female does not threaten anything feminine or sexual– she is an embarrassment to everything feminine –she is intellectually challenged [genes do matter] but made little effort to inform herself–she dressed like an out of work hooker until the stylist got hold of her [then reverted back]–she speaks of ‘male parts’ like it would impress in order to divert attention from her lack of historical knowledge or current events, she is vicious and vacuous in her attacks of others but plays the victim when presented with the facts of her erroneous assertions, she exhibits a serious lack of effectiveness as a mother/parent, and lastly, shows no concern for the vitriol and violence she has incited! Would go on but this is enough to start!
Nothing in that behavior would threaten any woman—or be called feminine–or ramp up even the most sex starved for more than a quickie with the help of ‘big blue’! And that is not threatening to real women–who know real sex appeal is between the ears –FIRST AND LAST!
“Christo-Republicans are not going to pay for the bastard’s health care, education, schooling or any of the financial burdens the raped woman will face for the 18 years she is responsible for the bastard.”
You hit the nail right on the head.
They also don’t seem to understand the danger that a child may face from it’s own rapist father. Many women don’t report rape to the police. The psychological shame they feel, on top of the difficulty in prosecuting rape is enough for them to decide to not report the crime. Further down the road the woman has to worry about the rapist father actually petitioning the courts for visitation, or custody of the child.
Christo-Republicans aren’t pro-life, they’re pro-zygote, and anti-poor newborn. To them, once a child is born to a poor mother, he/she turns into the freeloading spawn of poor welfare queens waiting to squeeze pennies from the purses of the well to do.
It’s infuriating.
“According to the law, rape is one person having sex with another person against their will. Republicans who suck money and support from bible-thumping misogynists want to change the definition so a man can impregnate a woman with impunity and the woman must give birth to the bastard. Americans were outraged when Serbians conducted ethnic cleansing in Bosnia by raping women, and in fact, the global community intervened in Bosnia to stop the ethnic cleansing by rape and America played a key role in stopping the practice.”
—
This whole paragraph had me lolling on the floor.
—
“Now Republicans are condoning forced-birth and punishing the victims by changing the definition of rape.”
—
What world do “Pro-Choice” advocates live in?
“Forced birth” give me a break . . .
I find it interesting that you were totally unable to provide any information as to what you disagreed with. Did you read the article linked at all or wewre you prevented from doing so??
Are you a Beck or limbaugh follower?
So many questions
¿Grif, you think this is funny? It’s a long time since I had psychiatric ambitions, but, what the hell, you make me nostalgic. Please explain your sense of humor to us.
I’m not sure why you seem to find this subject so funny that you were “lolling” on the floor.
This road they -repubs- are traveling is very much the same road as Radical Fundamentalist Sharia Law..and is the precursor to using rape as a way to control women and men for that matter!
The sponsors are professed what ? Fundamentalist christian….Hmmmm!
Not one live birth has been produced from a petri dish without a womb ! Lets tax the ones that vote for this for the total care of the infant and the mental health of the forced birth mother for life!
Perhaps we should introduce them all to the fighters in Sudan–or bubba in cellblock 8!
Amazing how Rethuglicans are all about protecting your rights… except when they’re taking them away.
The Republican Bill Of Rights:
You have the right to die from treatable health issues because you’ve been denied insurance
You have the right to give birth to the child of your rapist
You have the right to work until you’re 70
You have the right to get sick or die from tainted food
You have the right to get cancer from polluted air, land and water
You have the right to lose everything you own and become a burden on your loved ones because unethical actions by an under-regulated financial industry screwed up and trashed the economy and killed your job
You have the right to pay subsidies to rich oil companies
You have the right to pay the bonuses of amoral financial industry hacks
You have the right to never let anyone know you’re gay
You have the right to be persecuted because you are Muslim/Mexican/Black/anything that isn’t white and right-wing
You have the right to have your phone tapped without a federal warrant
You have the right to watch our nation’s youth die fighting baseless wars
You have the right to listen to your elected leaders lie, distort and revise history and facts in self-serving sociopathic efforts to retain their cushy government jobs (while trying to cut everyone else’s)
You have the right to not complain about any of this, unless of course you’re obviously a Marxist/Communist/Nazi/Terrorist/Liberal Elite/America-hater/Non-Real-American/Pinhead/Kenyan Anti-Colonialist
You have the right to accept these edicts from wealthy shit sacks who have high salaries (that they can vote to increase at will), government pensions and free healthcare.
America is “exceptional” all right…
Oops, I forgot to add: “that YOU’RE paying for” after: “high salaries (that they can vote to increase at will), government pensions and free healthcare.”
Sorry about that.
Here’s the Libertarian version:
You have the right to fend for yourself. Good luck!
hee hee…
the friggin ayatollah wannabes missed the part about the woman being required to have two witnesses to the rape.
I agree with the right-wingers that dont want federal money going towards elective abortions, that makes total sense.
But having to define what rape is, thats just ridiculous. If someone forces you to have sex and you said no, that is rape. Not all victims can fight back. When we start to define the victim fighting back, we get into trouble.. Because if the offender is caught, and there isnt a scratch or bruise on him, someone might argue that the victim didn’t fight back. He said/she said heresay type things are often become secondary to physical evidence, and thats a dangerous path to go down.
This bill would encourage women to fight back, and thats not always the best thing for a woman to do. I know that sounds retarded, but its the same thing as hiding when someone breaks into your home. Confrontation is not always the best thing. A woman should fight back if she feels its the right thing to do in the situation, but if she feels its better to cooperate, she should not be held to higher standards of what “rape” is. Sometimes women are threatened with bodily harm, sometimes the raper knows them and blackmails them into rape, the list of situations like that are endless. A woman does not always have the ability to fight back, and its not always a physical thing.
If a rapist breaks into a home to rape a woman who has a child in the next room, and he says “Cooperate or I will hurt your kid” what would she do then? Has the GOP discussed these issues?
What about women that are drugged or unconscious? This would also be detrimental to women that are under the influence of alcohol.
If this is passed, rape victims might lie in efforts to get coverage for abortions. Im not condoning the lying, but it could be a possibility and we have to think about these things now.
For example, usually if you commit a crime with a deadly weapon, you get more time. For women that didnt fight back they might lie and say the attacker had a knife or a weapon, and this could lead to additional jail time for rapists that did not use these means, which means more taxpayer money going down the drain.
The problem with this is that it could influence rapists in court, even if it has nothing to do with abortion and the woman didnt get pregnant. Would a rapist be let go and found not guilty if the woman said no, but didn’t fight back? Defining things like rape could ultimately lead to an increase in rape.
My concerns about this don’t even have much to do with abortions, but on the issue of rape as a whole. As if women need another reason to avoid pressing charges. Many women are too scared to press charges, especially if they are married, etc. But they would have to press charges to be able to get the abortion.
Why is the GOP set on fucking women over? They also had a chance to close the gender gap with paychecks and shot that down too.
Watch them next define “rape” as only a crime where there has been a conviction. By the time there is one, the baby would be old enough to vote.
Many here, are making common sense arguments that he little to do with underpinnings or this proposed bill. Once again the gop has diverted attention away from their lack of core values ! One does not argue or reason with the insane! This is certifiably insane to trample on the rights of women based on disproved beliefs from a interpreted , translated, extrapolated text that has been edited to suit the social and economic needs of the time@! However great comfort the bible may bring to many, it should never in its above form be used to take away the rights of citizens of the USA.
This is about paternalistic power and control! Nothing else–no matter how bleeting the repubs screeching has become.
You clearly did not read the bill yourself or else you would know that it does in fact protect minors and the victims of incest as well as rape victims.
Well trot out the data then.
Did you read it? It redefines rape!! Wake up!!
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