By John Celock
A Republican state legislator in Missouri has filed legislation that would require a woman to receive the consent of the father in order to receive an abortion.
Rep. Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville) has filed legislation that would expand the state’s abortion law to require women to receive the consent of the father of the unborn child in order to receive an abortion. The bill comes as Missouri already has some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country. Mother Jones first reported the bill on Wednesday.
Brattin, a father of five, told Mother Jones that his recent vasectomy was the inspiration for the bill.
“When a man goes in for that procedure—at least in the state of Missouri—you have to have a consent form from your spouse in order to have that procedure done,” Brattin told Mother Jones. “Here I was getting a normal procedure that has nothing to do with another human being’s life, and I needed to get a signed for. But on ending a life, you don’t. I think that’s pretty twisted.”
Brattin said that a woman who is raped and files a police report that she was raped would be able to obtain an abortion without receiving the man’s consent. Brattin termed that this would be “legitimate rape” to Mother Jones but said that unlike former U.S. Rep. Todd Akin’s (R-Mo.) definition, his would mean filing the police report.
Brattin’s bill is receiving opposition from progressives in the Missouri House.
“A Todd Akin-wannabe, Rep. Rick Brattin, pre-filed legislation the latest intrusive bill dealing with ‘legitimate rape.’ HB 131 would require a notarized signed consent form from the women’s partner before accessing an abortion, with an except for incest or rape, but not her health,” state Rep. Stacey Newman (D-St. Louis) told The Celock Report. “But Representative Brattin wants a woman to ‘prove’ her rape. This is just ugly and completely disgusting. Besides already being unconstitutional via the U.S. Supreme Court, this would affect hundreds of women in abusive relationships. Intimate partner violence is real and HB 131 would put numerous women’s lives in danger. Todd Akin style legislators should focus on solving real Missouri problems, not further harming women.”
Brattin, the vice chairman of the House Corrections Committee, was previously known for his 2013 push to teach intelligent design along side evolution in the state’s schools.