Forcible Discrimination

The freshly elected Republican House majority seems to have no problem explicitly stating their agenda; just look at the names of their legislative endeavors.


In addition to a bill that aims to repeal the health care law passed last year (one that includes "job-killing" in the title), our favorite reps of red districts have further capitalized on their well orchestrated mass manipulation of American pathos rooted in class antagonism (aka the "Tea Party Movement") by bringing this gem of a bill to our attention: the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act."


The bill attempts to redefine rape, reserving federal funds exclusively for those who have experienced "forcible rape" or "incest" in the case of a minor. Limiting the definition to rape with a "forcible" prefix consequently prohibits funding abortions as a result of coercive rape -- this includes rape influenced by date rape drugs, alcohol, psychological trauma/exploitation, etc.


It is not only the ambiguity of the "forcible rape" rule that worries feminists, women's rights activists and others concerned for reproductive freedom. The bill, like the Stupak Amendment tastelessly slapped onto last year's health care bill (which states that "no funds authorized or appropriated by this Act...may be used to pay for any abortion") is a direct attack on poorer women, particularly women of color.


Banning federal funding for abortions in cases not designated "forcible" disables many working-class women from seeking a healthy abortion. It privileges those of higher socioeconomic power and directly sends the message that an abortion is usually permissible, but only if you have the money for it.


The process of terminating an unwanted pregnancy is already a difficult decision with serious implications. By putting additional pressure on women with less financial and medical resources -- an increasing number in the U.S. considering our widening inequality gap that surpasses countries like Egypt and India -- we are underscoring the inexcusable notion that women of less privileged backgrounds don't deserve the same rights as their richer (mostly whiter) female counterparts.


Many may render an abortion "murder," and refuse to pay for them via taxpayer dollars accordingly. Nevertheless denying an entire class of women the right to choose what they do with their body and for whom they will allow a baby to enter the world regardless of why they were impregnated in the first place positions these women in a challenging scenario -- one with few healthy options that shamefully trivializes their rights as American citizens.


Let's not further segregate the ability and option to choose what's best for a woman's body based on the needs of herself, her family, her partner, her friends, her mind and her spiritual and psychological state.


Sign a petition at MoveOn.org today to help join the fight against the classist, anti-woman hatred in this bill!