by Today is April 1st, but what I’m about to tell you isn’t a joke. A woman’s uterus has taken on the stigma of “The N-Word” — at least in Florida — and that part of the, verboten, unspeakable, female anatomy shall heretofore, and ever-after be referred to, in a hushed voice, as: “The U-Word.”
During last week’s discussion about a bill that would prohibit governments from deducting union dues from a worker’s paycheck, state Rep. Scott Randolph, D-Orlando, used his time during floor debate to argue that Republicans are against regulations — except when it comes to the little guys, or serves their specific interests.
At one point Randolph suggested that his wife “incorporate her uterus” to stop Republicans from pushing measures that would restrict abortions. Republicans, after all, wouldn’t want to further regulate a Florida business.
Apparently the GOP leadership of the House didn’t like the one-liner. They told Democrats that Randolph is not to discuss body parts on the House floor.
Now, we could laugh at the silliness of conservative men blushing over the medical term for a part of the female anatomy — if we didn’t have more horrible, and tersely real news, like this farce staring back at us with terrified eyes:
The House Ways and Means Committee approved a bill on Thursday that uses the tax code to limit access to abortions in the US. As we’ve reported, the language in the bill extends the ban on federal funding for abortion to the tax code, blocking tax credits from being used for insurance plans that cover abortion services and forbidding tax deductions for the costs of an abortion. …
The provisions could also lead to abortion audits—where the IRS is forced to evaluate whether or not an abortion was in fact permissible for tax coverage because it was the result of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother. “Not only is that insensitive, to put burden on woman going through an absolute terrible time in her life, but I don’t think it’s workable,” said Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) in Thursday’s mark-up. “A criminal case wouldn’t fit conveniently within the tax season.”
You can’t say the world “uterus” in Florida without repercussion, but House Republicans have no problem giving the taxman a speculum for a federal pelvic exam?
Have Republicans gone insane with their utter fear of the power of a female uterus — I mean — “U-Word?” Do these conservatives realize how foolish they look — all year round — and not just on April Fool’s Day? Do they care?
That’s a sad situation, David. I can’t imagine a rape survivor would want to be hearing from the IRS or have a sit down interview to prove that she was the victim of a crime.
They’re overreaching in really obvious and dysfunctional ways, Gordon. It will lead to their own demise, though, so that’s ultimately a good thing.