N.Mex. Bill Would Criminalize Abortions After Rape

[redheadbaker]

New Mexico Bill Would Criminalize Abortions After Rape As 'Tampering With Evidence'

A Republican lawmaker in New Mexico introduced a bill on Wednesday that would legally require victims of rape to carry their pregnancies to term in order to use the fetus as evidence for a sexual assault trial.

House Bill 206 (link to text of bill), introduced by state Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R), would charge a rape victim who ended her pregnancy with a third-degree felony for "tampering with evidence."

“Tampering with evidence shall include procuring or facilitating an abortion, or compelling or coercing another to obtain an abortion, of a fetus that is the result of criminal sexual penetration or incest with the intent to destroy evidence of the crime," the bill says.

Third-degree felonies in New Mexico carry a sentence of up to three years in prison.

Pat Davis of ProgressNow New Mexico, a progressive nonprofit opposing the bill, called it "blatantly unconstitutional" on Thursday.

“The bill turns victims of rape and incest into felons and forces them to become incubators of evidence for the state,” he said. “According to Republican philosophy, victims who are ‘legitimately raped’ will now have to carry the fetus to term in order to prove their case.“

The bill is unlikely to pass, as Democrats have a majority in both chambers of New Mexico's state legislature.

[druidprincess]

Oh.my.God.

Can I just say this is similar to my rantings to the GOP yesterday via that survey? Just STOP already.

[Velar Fricative]

This is disgusting.

[meshaliuknits]

[mominatrix]

Apparently, then, we can't remove bullets from gunshot victims for ten months, because, you know, tampering with evidence.

[SallyJ]

WTMF? Why, why, why is it okay to take away my rights to my body, but gun rights are all that is holy and sacred??!?!?!?

[ttt]

Jan 24, 2013 11:25:46 GMT -5 druidprincess said:

Oh.my.God.

Can I just say this is similar to my rantings to the GOP yesterday via that survey? Just STOP already.

Every single member of the GOP would be well-served by a 5 year moratorium on saying, writing, thinking or in any way expressing the word "rape."

[meshaliuknits]

Jan 24, 2013 11:34:28 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

Apparently, then, we can't remove bullets from gunshot victims for ten months, because, you know, tampering with evidence.

Right? This would be the only physical evidence that can't be removed.

[curlystraw]

Jan 24, 2013 11:24:43 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

“The bill turns victims of rape and incest into felons and forces them to become incubators of evidence for the state,” he said. “According to Republican philosophy, victims who are ‘legitimately raped’ will now have to carry the fetus to term in order to prove their case.“

WTF and I still do not understand what legitimately raped even means.  So if you are not "legitimately raped" you can abort no questions asked?

[Deleted]

I can't. I'm so ragey now.

[NitaX]

Is this smaller government? The government forces me to carry a child after I was physically assaulted?

I was listening to the Tell Me More re-broadcast today, and they were discussing Roe v. Wade. One of the ladies had this to say:

"..part of the language and the framing of the issue last year did the Republican Party a lot of damage. And so, and I speak as somebody who is pro-life. When I listen to Todd Akin make those kinds of comments and then I listen to people use faulty science to justify their position, that something as a thinking person that I have to reject. And it actually made me afraid to put people like that in positions of power even if I agree with most of them on this particular cultural issue because it didn't look like they were actually, you know, thinking about this in good faith, it wasn't that they were using proper judgment, and in terms of deciding this, they were making some knee-jerk visceral reaction and trying to make sure that they towed some type of party line about this. And so I think what most voters are going to be looking for is somebody who shows compassion and shows judgment, and also has a basic understanding of science and the human body. If last year's discussion was anything it was an endorsement of why you need comprehensive sex education in schools because bureaucrats are not necessarily the best people to try to tell people what they should be doing with their bodies because they don't know the science."

I wish they would take this woman's advice.

[penguingrrl]

WTMF? So, if a rape didn't end in pregnancy did it not happen? Would a woman end up a criminal for having a miscarriage?

[crazytalk]

I think this should be just as disgusting to the pro-life side ... turning a baby in "evidence" rather than celebrating the life that it is?

[crazytalk]

Jan 24, 2013 11:37:54 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

Jan 24, 2013 11:34:28 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

Apparently, then, we can't remove bullets from gunshot victims for ten months, because, you know, tampering with evidence.

Right? This would be the only physical evidence that can't be removed.

I love this.

I also wonder ... wouldn't labor & delivery be tampering with the "evidence?" Since then it's a baby and no longer a fetus...?

There are just too many holes. Do these people understand logic? (Don't answer that.)

[sporky]

What the everloving fuck.

[lizlemon19]

This is so insanely awful.

[basilosaurus]

Jan 24, 2013 11:55:40 GMT -5 crazytalk said:

There are just too many holes. Do these people understand logic? (Don't answer that.)

I'm going to answer anyway. Didn't you read the TX GOP platform that specifically said it doesn't support teaching children critical thinking skills? They don't understand logic and are proud of it!

They also don't understand compassion or respect. They don't understand they, hey, women are people, too. 

And they sure as shit don't understand that this is why people hate them rather than merely disagree with them. 

[cattledogkisses]

It floors me when stuff like this comes from other women. It's bad enough coming from men, but this insanity just does not compute for me. So would she herself be a-ok with being forced to carry a child of rape as "evidence?"

[cattledogkisses]

And furthermore, WhyTF is pregnancy being treated as the only proof of rape here? What about rapes that don't result in pregnancy? We sure as shit don't say, "Sorry, no evidence!"

[Velvetshady]

I'm ragey and WTMF with the dumbshits that actually elected this batshit bitch.

[Velvetshady]

OK, my Google-fu skills are not up to snuff. Has any Rep Party Leader type come out and state this batshit crazy bitch does not represent the party and the party does not support her bill? Anyone? Because if not, I gonna start a campaign to advertise the new Rep effort to make it legally acceptable to discriminate against victims of crime.

[Nonny]

What in the goddamnfuckinghell is wrong with people who put forth bills like this?  And similarly, what in the goddamnfuckinghell is wrong with the people who vote the batshitcrazies into office?

[londoncalling]

WTMF?

Also, not to be morbid, but wouldn't there be DNA in the removed tissue?

[flyintheointment]

I read this, and I couldn't figure out why this pissed me off so much more than similar bills I've seen introduced wrt abortion rights. Those disgust me too, but this one is almost like a "gotcha". Like it's a fucking joke or something.

They can't possibly expect it to pass, so really it's just a sick example of pandering. So gross.

[debatethis]

Jan 24, 2013 15:34:07 GMT -5 londoncalling said:

WTMF?

Also, not to be morbid, but wouldn't there be DNA in the removed tissue?

Assuming she waits til ~8w or later to terminate, probably. Getting genetic results from my m/c was part of the reason I chose a D&C, although the OB did counsel me that there was a chance they wouldn't be able to get the genetic info or that it wouldn't culture.

[basilosaurus]

Legitimate rape doesn't cause pregnancy, so I don't even know why this is an issue.

On the flip side, contraception does prevent pregnancy, too, so maybe that should be illegal tampering, too.

[WOT?*]

Okay, I'll say it. Maybe somebody should legitimately rape and impregnate her just so she can get.her.fucking.facts.figured.out. It's appalling enough that it's even mentioned but by a WOMAN who could be easily be put in a position that it affects her directly is mind-boggling.

[aurora]

I just really want to believe this is not true. Somebody is playing an early April Fool's joke, right?

[Deleted]

fucking monsters. I can't believe they think it's ok to blackmail women like this. "We won't prosecute your rapist if you get an abortion because that proves you're a whore who deserved it".

On the other hand, how would they know you were pregnant, or that you got an abortion? Does the state have the right to see all your medical records for the next three months?
In the end it may be little more than a symbolic gesture, but one that just reveals them to be horrible awful people.
They act like they're performing a service to these women, instead of keeping society safe from rapists. Can't wait for the first lawsuit when some one they neglected to prosecute rapes again.

[decemberwedding07]

WTMF is right. And pregnancy isn't proof of rape, necessarily. It's merely proof of sexual intercourse. And isn't that one of the things that makes rape cases so hard to prosecute? There can be proof of sexual intercourse, but if it occurred without obvious physical violence (bruising, scratches, etc.), as could happen if, say, the victim were held at gunpoint, whether or not it was consensual becomes tricky to prove.