May 06, 2011
Extremists in the House of Representatives won a vote to approve an anti-choice bill yesterday that would effectively end all insurance coverage of abortion-related services, and even "redefine rape." The final vote was 251 to 175 with seventeen Democrats joining the entire Republican caucus.
As an excellent post at Mother Jones by Nick Baumann detailed, H.R. 3 would sharply reduce access to safe, legal abortions for women in this country by virtually eliminating insurance coverage for abortions. The redefinition of rape could be used to block women who were victims of incest involving statutory rape from using Medicaid to pay for an abortion. And in some cases, the bill would force women who were sexually assaulted into the hellish scenario of proving to IRS agents that they were victims of "forcible rape" or incest.
This video from Planned Parenthood makes clear why the stakes are so high.
Click here to see how your representative voted.
The House plans to vote on its anti-abortion bill as soon as tomorrow. The White House has threatened to veto the bill.
To help ensure defeat of this effort, sign on to Credo's petition to those members voting in favor of the bill underscoring that you consider their vote part of an assault on women's rights, and check out Planned Parenthood's activist tool-kit to learn how you can help push back this regressive legislative effort.
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Peter Rothberg
Peter Rothberg is the associate publisher for special projects at The Nation. Rothberg, a former speechwriter for civil rights leader Julian Bond, is the editor of Lived History: Lives We've Lost, 2012-13.
Extremists in the House of Representatives won a vote to approve an anti-choice bill yesterday that would effectively end all insurance coverage of abortion-related services, and even "redefine rape." The final vote was 251 to 175 with seventeen Democrats joining the entire Republican caucus.
As an excellent post at Mother Jones by Nick Baumann detailed, H.R. 3 would sharply reduce access to safe, legal abortions for women in this country by virtually eliminating insurance coverage for abortions. The redefinition of rape could be used to block women who were victims of incest involving statutory rape from using Medicaid to pay for an abortion. And in some cases, the bill would force women who were sexually assaulted into the hellish scenario of proving to IRS agents that they were victims of "forcible rape" or incest.
This video from Planned Parenthood makes clear why the stakes are so high.
Click here to see how your representative voted.
The House plans to vote on its anti-abortion bill as soon as tomorrow. The White House has threatened to veto the bill.
To help ensure defeat of this effort, sign on to Credo's petition to those members voting in favor of the bill underscoring that you consider their vote part of an assault on women's rights, and check out Planned Parenthood's activist tool-kit to learn how you can help push back this regressive legislative effort.
Peter Rothberg
Peter Rothberg is the associate publisher for special projects at The Nation. Rothberg, a former speechwriter for civil rights leader Julian Bond, is the editor of Lived History: Lives We've Lost, 2012-13.
Extremists in the House of Representatives won a vote to approve an anti-choice bill yesterday that would effectively end all insurance coverage of abortion-related services, and even "redefine rape." The final vote was 251 to 175 with seventeen Democrats joining the entire Republican caucus.
As an excellent post at Mother Jones by Nick Baumann detailed, H.R. 3 would sharply reduce access to safe, legal abortions for women in this country by virtually eliminating insurance coverage for abortions. The redefinition of rape could be used to block women who were victims of incest involving statutory rape from using Medicaid to pay for an abortion. And in some cases, the bill would force women who were sexually assaulted into the hellish scenario of proving to IRS agents that they were victims of "forcible rape" or incest.
This video from Planned Parenthood makes clear why the stakes are so high.
Click here to see how your representative voted.
The House plans to vote on its anti-abortion bill as soon as tomorrow. The White House has threatened to veto the bill.
To help ensure defeat of this effort, sign on to Credo's petition to those members voting in favor of the bill underscoring that you consider their vote part of an assault on women's rights, and check out Planned Parenthood's activist tool-kit to learn how you can help push back this regressive legislative effort.
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