RAPE RAPE
IF A WOMAN ISN’T BRUISED AND BLEEDING, WILL HER RAPE BE COUNTED?
BY STEPHANIE HALLETT I
N LATE JANUARY, U.S. REP. CHRIS SMITH (R-N.J.) SPARKED outrage when he introduced the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (H.R. 3), which sought to further restrict abortion funding for all women. But what also angered feminists was that, in drafting an exception to allow abortion funding for survivors of
rape, the bill defined “real” rape exclusively as “forcible” rape. For sexual assaults that didn’t fit that narrow definition, funding for an abortion would be denied. After a week of intense pressure, Rep. Smith dropped the term “forcible” from the controversial bill. Problem solved? Hardly.
26 | SPRING 2011 www.feminist.org
