Team Rape returns

Sometimes when it is cold and dark, and I’m nostalgic for the crazy things the GOP says about rape, I think back to those many months ago. Then Paul Ryan does something that brings it all back.

Jezebel’s Laura Beck wrote about the HuffPo piece on Ryan’s Sanctity of Human Life Act Part Dos. We all remember the first time this came up and died in Congress in 2011. It said life started at fertilization and would allow states to ban abortions even in the case of rape, incest, life of the mother, anything but the hand of god.

But it is back and with more crazy. I know, you’re thinking “Kari, how can it be worse?” Well, son, let me tell you. What really sets this bill apart from its predecessor is the clause stating that if a woman is raped in a state that prohibits abortion, and she seeks an abortion in a different state that allows it, the woman can be sued by her rapist. Yes, read that again. So the rapist could sue her to prevent the abortion from happening and probably win. What do we expect in a county where 31 states have paternal rights for rapists? This bill could also make many forms of IVF illegal. Bring on the cray cray.

Breathe easy, this thing will probably die, and hopefully, so will Ryan’s career, and any other jackass who co-signs this monstrosity. These fools will have to realize that the majority of voters don’t want politicians making women’s health decisions for them.

Another fun piece of crazy from last week, Representative Phil Gingrey of Georgia mansplained how the GOP went wrong, but not because their views on women are ridiculous and scary wrong, but because they didn’t say it the right way. Prepare yourself.

“Part of the reason the Dems still control the Senate is because of comments made in Missouri by Todd Akin and Indiana by [Richard Mourdock] were considered a little bit over the top.” Oh, really? Do go on.

“Mourdock basically said ‘Look, if there is conception in the aftermath of rape, that’s still a child, and it’s a child of God, essentially.’ Not, in Indiana, that cost him the election.” Did this guy call God a rapist? As an atheist this doesn’t bother me at all.

“And in Missouri, Todd Akin was asked by a local news source about rape and he said, ‘Look, in a legitimate rape situation’—and what he meant by legitimate rape was just look, someone can say I was raped: a scared-to-death 15-year-old that becomes impregnated by her boyfriend and when has to tell her parents, that’s pretty tough and might on some occasion say, ‘Hey, I was raped.’ That’s what he meant when he said legitimate rape versus non-legitimate rape. I don’t find anything so horrible about that.” One day someone is going to use the phrase legitimate rape, and I’m going to be close enough to punch them in the face.

“But then he went on and said that in a situation of rape, of a legitimate rape, a woman’ body has a way of shutting down so the pregnancy would not occur. He’s partly right on that.” Gingrey is an OB-GYN since 1975 and is the only one I’ve ever heard of who agreed with that statement.

“And I’ve delivered lots of babies, and I know about these things. It is true. We tell infertile couples all the time that are having trouble conceiving because of the woman not ovulating, ‘Just relax. Drink a glass of wine. And don’t be so tense and uptight because all that adrenaline can cause you not to ovulate.’ So he was partially right wasn’t he? But the fact that a woman may have already ovulated 12 hours before she is raped, you’re not going to prevent a pregnancy there by a woman’s body shutting anything down because the horse has already left the barn, so to speak. And yet the media took that and tore it apart.”

Please, some in Georgia strip this man of his license to practice medicine. I still think it is too soon, but we may have to thank “Team Rape” for the 2016 presidential election.