Battle On

My dear American readers,

I am absolutely sickened. Really, utterly sickened. My fingers do not want to type, do not want to move. This post will rely heavily on others' words; my brain is numb facing the heartlessness in a new bill being presented in D.C.  Because, you know what? I would like to believe that I don't have to explain why it is wrong to deny women access to medical procedures if they are raped. I would like to think that it is very simple. But for some Republicans (and Democrats), this simple kindness is a menace.

Here's a brief explanation via Sady Doyle (bolds mine): 

"Okay. So, for those unaware of context, here is what is going on. In the 'No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,' which is reprehensible on its surface, there’s a special surprise clause that seeks to limit the definition of rape and incest. In order to qualify for the exception to rape and incest cases, all rapes must be 'forcible' and all incest cases must involve survivors under the age of 18. Since 1976, to quote the Mother Jones piece, '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.' In addition to being a serious attack on the rights of women, this is an unprecedented attack on the rights of survivors, and introduces a hierarchy of rape which would deprive the majority of pregnant rape and incest survivors from receiving coverage for their abortions. No more coverage for the mentally disabled, no more coverage for children, no more coverage for those who are drugged, unconscious, or coerced."

Further truth from Ms. Doyle via Tigerbeatdown:

“'A ban on taxpayer funding of abortion is the will of the people,' quoth Speaker of the House John Boehner, thereby permanently confirming many a suspicion that he is not all that bright. In fact, American voters are concerned about the same thing they’ve been concerned about for the past three years, at least: Job loss, going broke, and the craptastrophe that is our economy. Not John, however! He’s decided that HR3, the 'No Taxpayer Funding For Abortion Act,' is 'one of our highest legislative priorities.'

Which means that one of his highest legislative priorities is denying medical care to rape and incest survivors. The bill seeks to codify the Hyde Amendment, which already restricts public funding for abortion so severely as to make it basically useless for the vast majority of low-income people, and to pass this into law. However, UNLIKE the Hyde Amendment, it doesn’t observe the long-standing truce between anti-choice extremists and rape survivors: Instead of holding forth, as even the rightfully-loathed Hyde Amendment and Stupak-Pitts Amendment have, that funding shall be made available for pregnant rape and incest survivors, it would only provide funding for survivors who have been 'forcibly raped.'

Which, as you know, is a tiny, tiny minority of survivors. 70% of rapes are 'non-forcible.' Rapists consciously seek out people and situations where they’ll have to use a minimum amount of “force”: They don’t want to get caught, and they’re cowards, so they prefer people who are already drugged, weak or unconscious. They groom their victims, isolate them, and use the minimum amount of force necessary to terrify their victims into compliance; their main weapons are fear, coercion, and the vulnerability of the victim. Under this bill, you don’t count if you were drugged, you don’t count if you were sleeping, you don’t count if you were coerced, you don’t even count if you were molested, because statutory rape doesn’t count under this bill, either. And if you’re an incest survivor? You don’t count if you’re over 18."

Read the rest here.


What can we do to fight this?

• Join the #DearJohn Twitter campaign to draw attention to the issue right to Speaker of the House John B. The more tweets, the harder to ignore. Write to @johnboehner and add #DearJohn as the tag. (To my International Readers: If you want to stand with us, please add your voice to the Twitter campaign.) More info on this here: How to join the DearJohn campaign.
  
  

• Contact your Representatives.
  Clicking on the following image will take you to a state directory to find your representative:
  
  
  
  A personal email or call may be more effective than a chain petition. That being said, don't hesitate to sign the following ...
  
  
• MoveOn.org Petition against the bill that will "redefine rape and set women's rights back by decades."
  
  

I will continue to look for information on this issue. Further resources can be found on these sites, all of them helpful and amazing in ways that I can't even begin to describe:

• Tigerbeatdown
• Feministe  
• Shakesville
• STFU, Conservatives
• Rabble ProChoice