New Mexico Gov. Requires Women Seeking Childcare Assistance To Prove They Were ‘Forcibly Raped’

Source: Think Progress

New Mexico Gov. Requires Women Seeking Childcare Assistance To Prove They Were ‘Forcibly Raped’
By Tara Culp-Ressler on Sep 20, 2012 at 2:06 pm

After Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) asserted his belief that “legitimate rape” doesn’t often lead to pregnancy, Republican lawmakers were quick to attempt to configure his radical stance on women’s health as an outlier in their party. However, increasing numbers of GOP politicians’ language about the nature of sexual assault actually echoes Akin’s — including New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (R), whose state’s policies use language that effectively narrows the definition of rape.

Not only did Martinez refer to “forcible rape” in an announcement instating April as New Mexico’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month — as if some kinds of sexual assault need to be qualified as more or less “legitimate” than others — but, as RH Reality Check reports, the term also appears in the state’s proposed changes to its official applications for childcare assistance. If the proposed changes take effect, women in New Mexico will be required to prove that their sexual assault qualified as “forcible rape” if they are seeking childcare assistance for a child that resulted from rape:

If adopted, this policy will have numerous implications. It establishes in state law a narrow definition of rape that can and will be applied in other areas of law and policy. It puts a heavy burden on women who have been raped and are now struggling economically to support a child or children to prove the manner in which they were raped and to meet a test set up by the state to exclude many women in need of childcare assistance who would otherwise qualify.

It would force women who have left violent domestic partnerships, who were date-raped, who were impregnated as a result of incest, or through other “non-forcible” but nonetheless equally violent and denigrating means of sexual violation to first re-engage with their abusers to seek child support, putting control of their lives back into the hands of someone by whom they were violated in the most profound sense of the term.

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17 replies	Author	Time	Post
New Mexico Gov. Requires Women Seeking Childcare Assistance To Prove They Were ‘Forcibly Raped’ (Original post)	Judi Lynn	Sep 2012	OP
Sick. I hope the media rakes her over the coals for this.	qb	Sep 2012	#1
The Abq Journal won't	burrowowl	Sep 2012	#15
Yes, all rape victims are making cell phone videos while being attacked.	Cleita	Sep 2012	#2
But this will increase abortion rates. Does the GOP want to increase abortion rates?	McCamy Taylor	Sep 2012	#3
You're right it would.	EC	Sep 2012	#7
That's right ladies	Liberalagogo	Sep 2012	#4
Ignorant, divisive	defacto7	Sep 2012	#5
The salt on the wound,	ronnie624	Sep 2012	#12
Unbelievable	defacto7	Sep 2012	#13
Exponential Growth in attacks:	Bernardo de La Paz	Sep 2012	#6
its been a two year long hissy fit	maindawg	Sep 2012	#8
Fuckers	Solly Mack	Sep 2012	#9
Da fuq is this sexist drivel?	Odin2005	Sep 2012	#10
Revision needed here	mikki35	Sep 2012	#11
Good. A little sunlight sends the cockroaches skittering for cover.	qb	Sep 2012	#16
So, they still need to prove they were raped?	Hugin	Sep 2012	#17
Obviously if it was legitimate Rape there would be no child.	Socal31	Sep 2012	#14