Outrage !! -- on a different subject

Mother Jones magazine's blog today details the latest outrage from House Republicans:

HR 3 is a bill making its way through the House that has 221 co-sponsors and that Speaker John Boehner has made a top priority, with expected easy passage. The bill extends the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding for abortions except in the case of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother. What HR 3 does is to require assistance from the IRS in enforcing that ban by writing it into many places in the tax code. In other words:

HR 3 would turn IRS audit agents into "abortion cops."

For example, if a person claimed a tax deduction for medical expenses either to pay for an abortion or to pay for health insurance that covers abortions; and, if that person's IRS return is audited, the IRS would be required to determine whether such an abortion met those criteria of exception in the Hyde amendment.

The burden of proof would lie with the taxpayer to prove that her abortion was the result of rape, incest, or to save her life -- or that her insurance policy did not cover abortions, even if she hadn't had an abortion.

This is an outrageous extension of an already outrageous control over a woman's reproductive choices by moralizers who are determined to impose their interpretation of when life begins on everyone else -- and science be damned. The Hyde amendment already puts this restriction on Medicaid paying for abortions, or any federal health insurance for employees. Now with HR 3,

it would be extended to forbid anyone taking a tax deduction for medical expenses paid privately for an abortion -- or even to pay insurance premiums if the policy covers abortion.

This opinion of the law has been given by Tax Analysts, a non-partisan, non-profit tax policy group. A former long-time IRS official agreed.

NARAL ProChoice American issues this statement:

"This bill gets more outrageous and insulting by the day. Not only would a woman have to describe her sexual assault to the police, but she could then be forced to relive that horrifying experience with an agent from the IRS," said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. "The 221 members of Congress who signed their names to this egregious bill must explain to their constituents why they want to give the IRS authority to audit rape survivors."

If you would like to sign the petition sponsored by my phone company, the social-activist company, CREDO, go to this web site:

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/no_abortion_audits/

Ralph