Just when you thought you've seen and heard it all in the political "war on women," a Republican legislature in New Mexico proposed a bill that would criminalize aborting a pregnancy that is the result of rape or incest on the grounds of "tampering with evidence."
State House Rep. Cathrynn Brown introduced this bill on Wednesday which would legally mandate women to carry their pregnancy in order to prove that she was sexually assaulted. In the bill, women that aborted their pregnancy could be charged with a third-degree felony and face a sentence of three years in prison.
The language of House Bill 206 reads: "Tampering with evidence shall include procuring or facilitating an abortion, or compelling or coercing another to obtain an abortion, of a fetus that is the result of criminal sexual penetration or incest with the intent to destroy evidence of the crime."
On Thursday, critics spoke out against the anti-abortion bill. Pat Davis, the Executive Directive of ProgressNow New Mexico, called it "blatantly unconstitutional."
"The bill turns victims of rape and incest into felons and forces them to become incubators of evidence for the state. According to Republican philosophy, victims who are 'legitimately raped' will now have to carry the fetus to term in order to prove their case," said Davis.
Brown released a statement Thursday afternoon clarifying that the bill is meant to prosecute sexual offenders and "protect women." She said: "New Mexico needs to strengthen its laws to deter sex offenders," said Brown. "By adding this law in New Mexico, we can help to protect women across our state."
More than likely the bill will not pass since Democrats have a majority in both chambers of New Mexico's state legislature.
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