Would You Put YOUR Wife or Daughter Through This?

Buddy, I was POed before, but this really takes the cake!  Our Republican Keepers Of Moral Purity were all set to redefine rape and draw a line between forcible rape and everything else.  Pedophiles everywhere would have rejoiced, especially those in positions of authority, since they could use their authority instead of a 2x4 to get what they wanted and if the outcome was an unwanted pregnancy, well too bad so sad.  Doubt me?  Have a chat with your local SNAP chapter and get their view.  They will have plenty to say.  Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and rape became rape again, but our Republican Masters of the Universe were not deterred.

Now they have gone the extra mile.  So determined are they to rule what women can and cannot do with their own wombs, and how they spend their money, they are willing to subvert the IRS into becoming morality enforcers.  Oh what hyperbole! you might say and I would say, not so fast!  Read this, and tell me again that I am spouting hyperventilated hyperbole.  OK, I take it back.  I AM hyperventilating because I am so very angry.

The last time I wrote about this I heard from at least one party who declared abortion as totally wrong with minimal exceptions, which apparently would fall under this law.  So, I want to know; if YOU were raped or a close female relative was raped and chose to have an abortion, how willing would YOU or she be to share that experience with an IRS auditor?  How much effort would you put into separating the costs of any abortion you might have from other medical expenses, and then making sure you had sufficient justification?  Or would you just eat the cost and be done with it?  Just what are you willing to do? And do you really want the IRS to have that responsibility?

Beyond those details, consider this; the IRS (my former employer) is tasked with enforcing laws that have little to do with taxes and a lot to do with social policy.  Enforcement of child support laws by capturing federal tax refunds is the most obvious example.  The mission of the IRS is to deal with taxes, not enforcing every social policy initiative that Congress can dream up. The Hyde amendment is pretty clear on what it disallows.  Expanding its reach is one thing.  Turning the IRS into enforcers of the Republican anti-abortion policy is something else.  Time to hammer Congress again.  I don't know what it is going to take to get their attention on issues like this, but obviously we have to maintain vigilance with this lot.