Don't assume I'm dumb ... or a Democrat

I think I need to have a new message t-shirt made up, one that reads: "Don't assume I'm a Democrat." Though I'm descended from a long line of liberal Midwesterners who put the "farmer" (on my mom's side) and "laborer" (on my dad's) in the DFL, I'm getting tired of the party taking the support of people like me for granted.

By "people like me," I mean women.

In the latest salvo of the continuing abortion wars, members of the U.S. House last month introduced a bill called the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, or House Resolution 3.

The bill would essentially codify into federal law the provisions of the Hyde Amendment, a rider that is usually tacked onto appropriations bills annually. Since 1976, the Hyde Amendment has barred impoverished women from using Medicaid funds to pay for abortion procedures.

Supporters of Hyde believe that it's not too much to ask that federal funds be withheld from a medical procedure that they find objectionable. In reality, however, Hyde perpetuates systems that allowed a phony "doctor" like Kermit Gosnell to take advantage of women who are both poor and desperate. As Shirley Chisholm (a Democratic congresswoman) wrote in 1970: "No matter what men think, abortion is a fact of life. Women will have them; they always have and always will. Are they going to have good ones or bad ones? Will the good ones be reserved for the rich while poor women have to go to quacks?"

Making Hyde permanent would be bad enough on its own, but the authors of HR 3 went further. As with most anti-abortion legislation, there is an exception clause for cases of rape or incest or to preserve the life of the pregnant woman. You may have heard that in its original form, HR 3 required that to obtain this exemption on grounds of rape, the rape had to have been "forcible." As with the Hyde Amendment, this may not seem objectionable upon first glance, but in reality, it would have been a devastating redefinition of a crime that is already under-reported due to lingering stigma. A woman assaulted after ingesting a drink laced with Rohypnol could not claim to have been raped. It was not too long ago that accused rapist Roman Polanski found support among those who felt his attack on a 13-year-old girl (whom he drugged) wasn't "RAPE-rape," rendered in air quotes.

Here's where Democrats come in. Seeking to capitalize on the outrage, their Congressional Campaign Committee sent out a link Jan. 31 to a petition "denouncing Republican Speaker John Boehner and House Republicans for supporting this extremist anti-woman bill." But with only a few taps on my keyboard I discovered that 10 Democratic representatives are also cosponsors, including Minnesota's own Collin Peterson.

When I tried to voice my displeasure on the DCCC's Facebook page, I found myself suddenly blocked, with my original comment wiped from its feed. The ban was only temporary -- other feminist friends peppered the site themselves, probably causing a lowly intern to decide that banning me was more hassle than humoring me -- but the damage was done.

On Feb. 3, the word "forcible" was dropped from the bill. As of this writing, the DCCC petition remains online, yet no Democratic cosponsor has withdrawn his support.

In my relationships with people, I expect a minimum level of respect, especially for my intelligence. The DCCC knew that "this extremist anti-woman bill" had the support of Rep. Peterson and nine other Democrats. In 21st century politics, it's no longer acceptable to assume that women won't have such information, or that if they do, they won't be mightily annoyed by it.

Stunts like these leave the party looking an awful lot like the obnoxious family member who ruins Thanksgiving yet whines when he's not invited the following year. "But we're family," he sniffs, hoping to wrangle his way back into our good graces.

Unfortunately, such an entreaty may no longer be enough. Another trait I inherited from my Midwestern relatives was common sense.

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Shannon Drury, president of Minnesota NOW, is a writer, at-home parent and community activist. She writes a regular column for the Minnesota Women's Press, with additional work appearing in HipMama, Literary Mama and Skirt magazines. She blogs at www.theradicalhousewife.com and is a source in MPR's Public Insight Network.

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