Alan Greyson was criticized recently by George Will, for being a cancer on the American body politic. His apparent vitriol in his last campaign, which included calling his opponent "Taliban Dan" for his Republican foe's stance on women's choice. Thank goodness that such a dirty political fighter as Greyson lost his seat to a multi-millionaire Republican suck-bag. Imagine...calling Republicans the Taliban!
What Greyson said, he said in October. Now, a little over three months later, Republicans in the House are asking for, well Sharia law in America - to an extent. In one bill, the abortion restriction for federal money is being extended not just to rape, but to "forcible" rape only. That's it, "forcible" rape as defined by the men of the Republican party.
So...incest? Nope, no abortion for you if you rely on Medicare, Medicaid, any government insurance or even a health savings account. Statutory rape? Forty year old dude impregnates your middle school daughter? Nope. Date rape? Nope. Hows about a woman who is drugged, then raped? Hey, no force was used, so fuck no! No, that rapist has to use force. How much? I'm sure they'll find some Republican men to decide.
In another bill, doctors are being given the right to refuse any abortion procedure under any circumstance, even if the life of the mother is in immediate danger. The current law states that if a doctor has religious objections to abortion, he has to stabilize the woman, and facilitate her transfer to a doctor who is not such a fundamentalist fuck-ball that he can be bothered to save her life. This bill would do away with even that requirement. The doctor would be allowed, in adherence with his religious beliefs, to stand there and watch both woman and baby die.
Suffice it to say, there is no male equivalent to these draconian restrictions. Men do not face these circumstances, in large part due to the prevailing biology of our species. We can't get pregnant, so we do not face this circumstance. But to give a doctor the power of life and death based on his or her on religious prejudice over one gender only is insane in a 21st century democracy.
If Congress redefines rape for the purposes of abortion, won't that also make its way into the criminal courts, and make it much harder to prosecute rapists? And, to let Congress redefine rape because of the far right's religious viewpoint is strictly from the Taliban playbook. Take the sharia law requirement for proving rape. There are cases in Islamic courts all the time that go like this. If a woman claims she has been raped, she must have four male witnesses. If she doesn't, since she in the course of seeking justice for the rape admitted that she had sex, she is punished for adultery. I can hear the Alabama judge now: "He slipped you rohipnol, and then fucked you in the club's men's room while you were passed out over a urinal? That's not rape anymore, according to Congress. Now get out of my courtroom you dirty slut. Bailiff, wipe down that chair!"
By the way - show me where in the Bible it says not to have abortions. Abortions are mentioned in the Old Testament, but are not prohibited. No, as usual, this is a bullshit social issue used effectively by Republicans to divide and conquer. But the real biblical issue underlies this, and should have all women in the streets with torches and pitchforks - the taking of their bodies by men as property. Women as chattel, is at the root of this. That women will have less rights over their bodies, less protection from the law, less privacy with their doctors and a lesser level of care from the medical system than men shows how much less a person the Republicans consider women.
Yes, Alan Greyson was closer to the mark than even his supporters knew. The GOP wants the Christian version of sharia law here in America. They want women to revert to the status of property, and to deny them sexual safety and reproductive liberty. They are the worst.
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