sickeningly cruel

Kansas lawmaker compares rape to auto theft.

Kansas lawmakers are currently considering a law that would bar insurance providers from covering elective abortions — unless a woman pays extra for a special plan. The problem with such coverage, however, is that it forces women to “plan for a completely unexpected event.” The bill “wouldn’t apply to abortions performed to save the life of a woman, or to pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.” However, in the latter case, women would first be forced to file a police report:

The bill would require a police report to be filed if the woman wants an abortion to be covered by her insurance under the incest or rape exemptions. [...]

“You’d have to have a report that someone stole your car,” said Rep. Steve Brunk, a Bel Aire Republican. “This is kind of the same thing.”

“Rape is a deeply traumatic event,” Sandy Barnett, director of the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence, explained. “Often (victims) are afraid of law enforcement and the criminal justice system itself.” Requiring women to purchase a special abortion “rider” is discriminatory, since there is no comparable extra coverage that men need to purchase. As Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has asked, would men who support an abortion rider also support a rider for Viagra?

(Think Progress)