Anti-Choice Bill Subjects Rape Survivors to IRS Audits
The anti-choice leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives is waging a War on Women, and the attacks keep getting more extreme.
Mother Jones is reporting that H.R.3, the dangerous "Stupak on Steroids" bill, could subject survivors of rape and incest who choose to terminate their pregnancies to audits by the Internal Revenue Service.
Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, which helped break this story, called the bill a callous assault on women's freedom and privacy:
This bill gets more outrageous and insulting by the day. Not only would a woman have to describe her sexual assault to the police, but she could then be forced to relive that horrifying experience with an agent from the IRS. The 221 members of Congress who signed their names to this egregious bill must explain to their constituents why they want to give the IRS authority to audit rape survivors.
Why, indeed?
It's yet another way these anti-choice politicians are pushing for more government intrusion in our personal, private lives--not less.
Tags:
Abortion, Abortion debate, Chris Smith, Congress, house, hr3, Internal Revenue Service, irs, Mother Jones (magazine), Nancy Keenan, NARAL Pro-Choice America, No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act, Rape, rape and incest exceptions, rape audit, Stupak on Steroids, United States House of Representatives, war on women,
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Do you guys have any petitions against this bill? What can people do to fight it directly?
Please feel free to send me an email and let me know!
Thanks, Armand.
Here's the action page where you can urge your lawmaker to vote NO on the "Stupak on Steroids" agenda:
http://action.prochoiceamerica.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=4621&s_src=2011_adv_stupakonsteroids_socnet
I just read the bill and I did find that the tax deduction and/or tax exemption for medical expenses (including insurance premiums) that are related to abortion services would be eliminated, with the exception of rape, to preserve the life of the mother, and incest (with minors).
I can not, however, find anything implying that a woman using the exemption (rape) would be subject to an IRS audit.
Can you please clarify were this is to be found? Or is it just supposition?
For the record, I believe this bill is another example of the right trying to legislate their brand of "religion" on everyone else, which is unconstitutional.
The new GOP standard:
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2WbV8H/motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/gop-bill-irs-abortion-audits
H.R.3 is an attempt to restrict a woman's right to choose, and goes far beyond current law. This legislation manipulates the tax code to advance the anti-choice agenda. In my generation, we would have said: "DIRTY POOL!" But legislation like this goes well beyond that epithet. It is rotten, dirty politics by reactionaries and by religious fundamentalists. I absolutely oppose abortion as birth control, but rape and incest are different, vicious, brutal, criminal acts! A woman is entitled to an immediate abortion after suffering rape or incest.
Any politician should understand this. A woman should instantly and absolutely!