World News Korner

Michigan lawmakers consider new abortion law that would force women to buy "rape insurance." But remember, there is NO war on women!

Courtesy of Think Progress:

Michigan lawmakers are currently deciding whether to advance a bill that would require women in the state to purchase a separate insurance policy for abortion coverage, even in cases of rape or incest. If it’s approved, Michigan would join a long list of other states that have attacked abortion access by preventing women from using their own insurance to pay for it.

The debate over the legislation has heated up this week, particularly since the measure would deny abortion coverage even to women who have become pregnant as a result of rape. Although the overwhelming majority of Americans believe that rape victims should have access to legal abortion services, lawmakers continue to propose policies that would have callous implications for individuals who have been sexually assaulted.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) vetoed the proposed insurance ban last year for exactly this reason — pointing out that it would require rape victims to pay for the total cost of their abortion procedure out-of-pocket, unless they had thought ahead and purchased a separate insurance rider for abortion services. “I don’t believe it is appropriate to tell a woman who becomes pregnant due to a rape that she needed to select elective insurance coverage,” Snyder noted when he rejected the bill last December.

But Michigan’s anti-choice community disagrees. Earlier this year, when advocating for the proposed legislation, a prominent anti-choice leader in Michigan suggested that rape is like a car accident and it’s appropriate to require women to buy “extra insurance” to prepare for it. After Snyder’s veto, abortion opponents decided to simply circumvent the governor and collect enough signatures to provoke a “citizen-initiated” vote on the measure. That petition was successful, and the measure headed to the legislature on Tuesday.

Lawmakers now have 40 days — not including the upcoming holiday break — to act on the measure. If they don’t take any action, the issue will be placed on the 2014 ballot for a statewide vote. If the legislature approves it, on the other hand, the bill will immediately become law — even without Snyder’s signature.

"Rape is like a car accident?" I know I am supposed to write something snarky right about here, but once again I am rendered virtually speechless.

How is it even remotely reasonable to consider forcing women to purchase "rape insurance," so that they can regain control over their own bodies, once they have been violated?

Here I have an idea, how about instead of this attack on women, Michigan pass a law stating that the rapist's insurance has to pay for the abortion? Unless of course the woman decides to keep it, at which time the courts should insist that he work two jobs at a time in order to provide for the child, whom he will be denied access to, until the child is 21 years old?

To my mind that, since the child is the result of the rapist's actions alone, seems far more reasonable.

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