Don't Let The Right Wing Redefine Rape

Congressional Republicans have introduced a bill that would allow women using government money to receive an abortion only in the event of forcible rape. This is bullshit, and we should fight this on all fronts, including Twitter.

The new bill would deny abortion coverage for women who were not forcibly raped, including victims of statutory rape and date rape. You know, that that non-rape-rape stuff. The fun rape!

The fabulous Tiger Beatdown blog has encouraged its readers to take digital action. Sady Doyle writes,

They’re coming for the abortion funding, and the first thing they’re doing is breaking the long-held taboo that says, whatever else you do, don’t come after the rape survivors, they’ve been through enough. According to this bill, you’ve only been through enough if the GOP decides you’ve been through enough. Otherwise, no matter how traumatic your rape was, or how desperately you want or need control of your life and body, you’re fair game. Having had your right to consent to sex violently ripped away, your right to consent to pregnancy and childbirth can now be ripped away as well.

Those of us who oppose this measure that re-victimizes rape survivors by forcing them to carry unwanted pregnancies to term can Tweet giant gaveled House Speaker John Boehner here. Attach a #DearJohn hashtag to your Tweets (in ALL CAPS if you’d like to respond in-kind to SPEAKER BOEHNER who seems like an ALL CAPS kind of guy) and track the progress of the tag here.

In the meantime, keep speaking up for women, even if it means spending time on Twitter trying to get through to a man who is conservative in everything except for self-tanner application.

#DearJohn: For When Boehner Decides Your Rape Just Wasn’t Enough [Tiger Beatdown]