Watch out, Florida and Mississippi — Missouri is coming for you. Between this and Ferguson, the state may be a top contender for Absolute Worst State in the Country. Which means I may have to cancel my plans for a dream vacation to Branson for the purposes of enjoying a brunch hosted by Greg Brady.
Rick Brattin, a Republican state representative from outside Kansas City, filed a bill this December 3rd proposing a law requiring women seeking an abortion (from the state’s one and only clinic) to obtain a freaking “permission slip” from the father in order to have one.
It is important to note that this law would, naturally, only affect poor women who were unable to obtain an out-of-state abortion.
The bill states, ”No abortion shall be performed or induced unless and until the father of the unborn child provides written, notarized consent to the abortion.” And the only way a woman would be able to get out of this requirement would be if she were … wait for it …”legitimately raped.”
Now, Brattin makes clear that he doesn’t mean “legitimate rape” like “Todd Akin legitimate rape.” He means “legitimate rape” as in, it’s been reported to the police and has been “proven.”
Via Mother Jones:
“Just like any rape, you have to report it, and you have to prove it,” Brattin tells Mother Jones. “So you couldn’t just go and say, ‘Oh yeah, I was raped,’ and get an abortion. It has to be a legitimate rape.”
…
“I’m just saying if there was a legitimate rape, you’re going to make a police report, just as if you were robbed,” Brattin says. “That’s just common sense.” Under his bill, he adds, “you have to take steps to show that you were raped…And I’d think you’d be able to prove that.” The bill contains no provision establishing standards for claiming the rape or incest exceptions. It also doesn’t state any specific penalties for violating the law nor say whether a penalty would be imposed on the woman seeking the abortion or the abortion provider.
Oh yeah. That’s how things work all the time, Rick Brattin. Let’s just ignore that the vast majority of rapes are not reported to the police and that only about three percent of rapists will ever spend a single day in jail. Reporting a rape is just so easy, and simple. Like baking a cake. A cake that treats you like you’re the criminal and then totally forgets to ever process your rape kit! With sprinkles on top.
There is a reason why men do not get to have a say in whether or not a woman has an abortion or not: the fact that it is not his body. It’s not his body going through nine months of pregnancy. It’s not his body that has to pass a thing the size of a football out of his nether regions. He literally has to do nothing but have an orgasm and then stand there.
A large part of the reasoning behind Roe v. Wade was the right to privacy. That abortion was a private matter between a woman and her doctor. That it was no one’s business but her own.
Notably, the bill does not have an exception for situations in which the father is abusive.
When asked if he would support an exception for women whose partners are abusive, Brattin says, “I haven’t really thought about that aspect of it.” But he adds, “What does that have to do with the child’s life? Just because it was an abusive relationship, does that mean the child should die?” Brattin notes that women in these situations can obtain protective custody once the child is born.
Gee! What on earth could that have to do with a child’s life? I wonder! I mean, why not give that guy the right to determine whether or not he wants to force a woman to have his child anyway? What could possibly go wrong there?
Mother Jones notes that this is hardly the first absurd thing Brattin has tried to float past the Missouri State Legislature. In 2013, he sponsored a bill attempting to get “intelligent design” and “destiny” equal time with evolution in state textbooks. Can you just imagine? Destiny? What? Would there be a section on gene mutation and then another section on Cinderella? How would that even work?
He has also co-sponsored several other bills, as well as one similar to this which would allow a man to “veto” a woman’s decision to have an abortion, which mercifully died in committee.
Reprinted with Permission from The Frisky. Want more? Read these stories from The Frisky:
Watch A Pregnant Woman Tear Some Anti-Choice Protesters A New One
North Dakota Is Effectively Banning Abortion
America Is Basically Criminalizing The Fact Of Being Female (And Pregnant) With Personhood Laws