I'm thinking the "Republican philosophy" and mindset need a massive influx of working brain cells ~ ~ Sooz

Laura Bassett
New Mexico Bill Would Criminalize Abortions After Rape As 'Tampering With Evidence'
Posted: 01/24/2013 10:21 am EST | Updated: 01/24/2013 4:23 pm EST

A Republican lawmaker in New Mexico introduced a bill on Wednesday that would legally require victims of rape to carry their pregnancies to term in order to use the fetus as evidence for a sexual assault trial.

House Bill 206, introduced by state Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R), would charge a rape victim who ended her pregnancy with a third-degree felony for "tampering with evidence."

“Tampering with evidence shall include procuring or facilitating an abortion, or compelling or coercing another to obtain an abortion, of a fetus that is the result of criminal sexual penetration or incest with the intent to destroy evidence of the crime," the bill says.

Third-degree felonies in New Mexico carry a sentence of up to three years in prison.

Pat Davis of ProgressNow New Mexico, a progressive nonprofit opposing the bill, called it "blatantly unconstitutional" on Thursday.

“The bill turns victims of rape and incest into felons and forces them to become incubators of evidence for the state,” he said. “According to Republican philosophy, victims who are ‘legitimately raped’ will now have to carry the fetus to term in order to prove their case.“

The bill is unlikely to pass, as Democrats have a majority in both chambers of New Mexico's state legislature.

UPDATE: 12:25 p.m. -- Brown said in a statement Thursday that she introduced the bill with the goal of punishing the person who commits incest or rape and then procures or facilitates an abortion to destroy the evidence of the crime.

“New Mexico needs to strengthen its laws to deter sex offenders,” said Brown. “By adding this law in New Mexico, we can help to protect women across our state.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/24/new-mexico-abortion-bill_n_2541894.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000010

I really don't want to live in this country anymore.

From what I have heard, the wording has been changed. She wants to make it a crime against the rapist to force am abortion on their victim. Mostly in cases of incest. The local station posted her correction

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S290 ... ml?cat=504

House Bill 206, introduced by state Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R), would charge a rape victim who ended her pregnancy with a third-degree felony for "tampering with evidence."

Cor. Blimey..
She was dropped on 'er 'ead at birth.
Must be sum tamperin' 'ere, eh, mate?

IOW, a child will be born for the sole purpose of testing for forensic evidence? Lovely, since it also includes incest. So baby daddy is mother's daddy or brother and she's forced to give birth. Is the state going to pay for everything? What about any birth defects that can result from incest?

Why can't they just take and preserve some fetal tissue during the abortion? It contains everything they would need.

What about the rape kit collected at the hospital? It also contains tissue/sperm from the rapist and the woman.

What a stupid bill from a stupid bitch!

What a stupid bill from a stupid bitch!

Bitch?
Is that a birth defect?

Nooo! That title has to be "earned" and bestowed upon you by others.

For instance, in my work as a resident manager, I sometimes have to give people bad news involving their finances and/or their resident status. When I am called a bitch, it means I'm doing my job right. When I am elevated to the level of "fucking bitch", it means I am excelling. Really. IOW, I've had to learn to be tough and hold people accountable.

The "stupid" part is debatable. I'd say deliberate, blinded ignorance probably exacerbated by religion.

Thanks, MP ~

Sooz

Cathrynn Brown's "explanation" sounds VERY "convenient" to me ~ mostly because, to my own thinking, most if not all rapists do NOT hang around for a couple of months to see if their victims are pregnant and then try to force their victims to have an abortion ~ ~ Sooz

Friday, Jan 25, 2013 3:50 PM UTC
Cathrynn Brown wants to abort mission
The New Mexico Republican now says she's "horrified" at her proposed rape-victim-punishing bill.
By Mary Elizabeth Williams

Just one day after quietly introducing a whopper of a bill that would categorize abortions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest as “tampering with evidence,” New Mexico State Rep. Cathrynn N. Brown found herself doing some swift damage control.

As it still currently appears on the New Mexico Legislature’s page, Bill HB206 is blazingly, insanely straightforward. It explains that “tampering with evidence shall include procuring or facilitating an abortion, or compelling or coercing another to obtain an abortion of a fetus that is the result of criminal sexual penetration or incest with the intent to destroy evidence of the crime” and states “whoever commits tampering with evidence shall be punished” with varying degrees of felony charges. Isn’t it sweet when politicians try to defend the cause of “life” by categorizing fetuses as “evidence”? As one skeptic pondered Thursday, “So I assume, as evidence, the court will be holding the fetus in a locker and destroying it after trial?”

But Brown’s clever ruse to redefine a woman’s constitutional right as criminal tampering didn’t go over very well, and as the bill made national headlines Thursday, Brown not so coincidentally removed her contact information from her legislature page. But her personal Web page, which greets visitors with a photo from the governor’s prayer breakfast, tells a tale of somebody who’s been trying to tweak the narrative. There’s a record of two now-deleted posts entered on Thursday evening, followed by a statement from Brown that reads, “This is the bill that I will introduce that protects women and girls from incest and other sex crimes: It makes it clear that the mother of the fetus would never be charged. This bill ensures the prosecution of the offender and protection of the victim.”

In the bill’s newly gussied up language, it specifies that “a person who commits sexual penetration or incest and who procures an abortion of a fetus resulting from the crime with the intent to destroy evidence of the crime is guilty of tampering with evidence, prohibiting prosecution of the mother of the fetus … In no circumstance shall the mother of the fetus be charged.” So if you’re a rapist and you try to get your victim to have an abortion, you’re in trouble. Because that happens every day. Brown’s apparent interest in protecting women should be taken within the context of her other pursuits, however, like serving on the board of Carlsbad’s Right to Life chapter, and posting images from the Life Issues Institute on her Facebook page. The Institute describes its mission as “assuring … equal protection under the law for all living humans from the beginning of their biological life at fertilization.”

In a Thursday feature that ran in the Carlsbad Current-Argus, Brown, an experienced attorney, told Milan Simonich that the bill had been drafted too quickly and an “error” had caused it to be introduced before it was ready. “I missed this one,” she explained. Albuquerque Rep. Nate Gentry supported Brown’s assertion, adding, “She’s horrified.”

What a perfectly apt word. “Horrified” is exactly how one should feel about Brown’s sneaky, cruel and desperately punitive-to-victims bill. Too bad she’s horrified at being exposed for such a dumb, callous attempt to criminalize reproductive rights instead of at the idiotic obstacles continually thrown in the path of women seeking safe, legal abortions. But if you’re looking for proof of the callousness of the antiabortion movement and the extreme lengths to which they’ll go, you can at least give credit to Brown for providing the one thing she seems to care so very much about. Evidence.

http://www.salon.com/2013/01/25/cathrynn_brown_wants_to_abort_mission/

But if you’re looking for proof of the callousness of the antiabortion movement and the extreme lengths to which they’ll go, you can at least give credit to Brown for providing the one thing she seems to care so very much about. Evidence

I wouldn't call it callousness or extreme lenghts. It goes beyond that. An insanity that drives these people to try and put together some gobbledygook they think will protect babies. I has nothing to do with the victim of the rape or incest. I do seriously question their sanity.