So this is my morning.
I've got about a million tabs open with various news articles and bits of the H.R.3 bill, as well as twitter and a couple pro-choice blogs, and I just finished writing a very impassioned letter to my representative about said bill. And all this before getting out of my pajamas or the smudged remains of my (admittedly awesome) black eyeliner from last night.
Priorities.
I know I've been all about this the past couple days, but this is a very important issue, and one that can't just be swept under the rug and ignored.
Really though, the existence of this bill is a problem, one that I feel women everywhere should stand up and actively fight against. One of the most outrageous parts of it redefines rape in such a way that if a woman is unknowingly drugged or drinks too much, her rape will no longer meet the new federal rape guidelines. That means that if this woman relies on Medicaid coverage, she can no longer obtain an abortion. She would have to pay for it out of her own pocket, and the reality is that most people on Medicaid don't have the resources to be able to do that.
The problems go deeper than just abortion coverage though. Telling a woman that her rape doesn't meet a set of federal guidelines not only devalues the incident but also the woman. This is rape culture at its worst.
This is almost 160 men telling women that they don't matter.
That is the real problem here.
I see your point here (even thought I am 'pro-life'), and I agree that this new bill is terrible and demeaning to women.
ReplyDeleteThis is an all-or-nothing issue, and half-assing it is only going to rile up both sides. Thanks for posting this - I hadn't heard of this until now.