Missouri State Representative Rick Brattin is introducing another bill that will send women’s rights back to the dark ages. Brattin wants women to get the approval of the man that impregnated them before they proceed with an abortion.
His bill reads like a fifth-grade note from a teacher who wants proof that a sick child can play on the school’s playground. The lawmaker states “no abortion shall be performed or induced unless and until the father of the unborn child provides written, notarized consent to the abortion.”
If anyone thinks he’s joking, he dispels those thoughts by adding two exceptions to his archaic skill of lawmaking. The first exception is rape, and the second exception is the death of the named father.
Brattin also said if the woman was actually raped she would have to prove the rape. He wants full disclosure from rape victims. He says they have to report it, and then prove it. In his words, a woman just can’t say they were raped and get an abortion. The rape has to be a legitimate rape. A legitimate rape, in his mind, is a rape on file with the police department just like any other crime.
It seems legitimate rape has a couple of meanings to State Representatives in Missouri. Former lawmaker Todd Akin believed that a woman cannot become pregnant from a legitimate rape because her body will shut down the fertilization process. Brattin calls his bill “common sense.” Others believe the bill is nonsense.