April, 15 2011, 02:12pm EDT
Outraged Americans Tell Boehner to Stop the Rape Audits Bill
More than 100,000 Americans urge Speaker Boehner stop to H.R.3, legislation that would turn “IRS agents into abortion cops”
WASHINGTON
On Friday, leading progressive organizations delivered a petition signed by nearly 135,000 Americans to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) calling on him to stop the extreme anti-choice "Stupak on Steroids" bill (H.R.3), legislation that could spur the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to subject survivors of sexual assault to "rape audits."
Although Boehner failed in his attempts to defund Planned Parenthood and other Title X family-planning centers, H.R.3, which already has enough co-sponsors for passage, is expected to move to the House floor.
After Mother Jones revealed that H.R.3 could spur the IRS to audit survivors of rape and incest who choose abortion care, NARAL Pro-Choice America added its online advocacy efforts to EMILY's List and MoveOn.org Political Action's "Stop the War on Women" campaign to mobilize activists to oppose this latest front in the War on Women.
The news of potential "rape audits" comes as the latest in a series of revelations exposing the most shocking and appalling elements of the anti-choice House Leadership's War on Women. Speaker Boehner and his allies faced severe public backlash when the original text of H.R.3 redefined rape to make it more difficult for survivors of sexual assault to access abortion care. It was also exposed that H.R.358 would allow hospitals to refuse a woman abortion care even if she would die without it.
Speaker Boehner has said that he wants to limit government intrusion in the lives of Americans, yet is calling a bill that could force a rape or incest survivor to relive her trauma with an IRS agent a "top priority."
Organizations participating in the campaign to stop the "rape audits" bill issued the following statements regarding their collaborative effort to end the War on Women:
Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said: "Speaker Boehner's far-reaching War on Women has spurred pro-choice Americans into action. Our voices will not soon be silenced. Boehner and his allies will continue to hear from outraged Americans through petitions, phone calls, protests, and most importantly, at the ballot box in 2012."
Jen Bluestein, EMILY's List communications director, said: "American women have seen the anti-woman, anti-family agenda of Speaker Boehner and his allies loud and clear. We're going to keeping standing with our Democratic women in the House and Senate who are fighting back against Boehner's agenda - and we're going to add to their ranks by replacing these right-wing Republican crusaders with more pro-choice Democratic women who will fight for women and their families. "
Kat Barr, MoveOn.org Political Action Campaign Director, said: "Forcing rape survivors to endure IRS interrogations is simply inhumane. MoveOn's members have spoken out in firm opposition to the onslaught of legislation Speaker Boehner and his colleagues have introduced as part of their War on Women. It's time Congress stop attacking women, and focus on what America really needs: a stronger economy and job creation."
For over 50 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.
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