Letter To State Rep. Rick Brattin: Women Don't Need Men's Permission To Get Abortions

Dear Missouri State Representative Rick Brattin,

I must start out by saying WOW!!! Your arrogance and bravado are quite impressive.

The bill you introduced requiring women to get written permission from men when they want abortions in Missouri lit up the Internet! The rape exceptions you included were just as disturbing as the main bill – if a woman was sexually assaulted and seeks an abortion, she will have to prove it was a “legitimate rape.” I’ll address that part in just a bit.

See Rick, there was this landmark ruling by the Supreme Court in 1973 called Roe v. Wade and the gist is simple – the right to privacy between a patient and doctor. This means that a person visits their doctor, the two parties discuss a treatment or solution, and then they proceed without you (government) sticking your misogynistic, controlling nose in where it doesn’t belong.

“Legitimate rape.” Really now? Were you on dope when Todd Akin (R-MO) lost his bid for Senate to a WOMAN because he uttered that ridiculous phrase? I mean the whole country was like. WHAAAAAATTTTT did he just say? – INCLUDING Republicans. What’s worse is that you mansplained what it means to us. “I’m just saying if there was a legitimate rape, you’re going to make a police report, just as if you were robbed. That’s just common sense.”

Rick, this is AMERICA. Despite the loud minority of radical extremists – like you – we are a liberal, progressive nation. And we have little things called the Constitution and federal laws. Just because you don’t like them doesn’t mean you get to ignore them.

Since you are a young man who has been raised in the white, conservative, patriarchal bubble and you clearly believe women are second-class citizens who must obey men, you fail to recognize all of the flaws in your controlling-man-bill.

Here’s a hypothetical for you: Let’s just say a big, scary, evil man – or even one of your best buddies – sees your sweet, young, fresh, smiling face and decides he wants to “control” you. He finds a time where the two of you are alone, and he violates your hind quarters. And let’s just say, hypothetically, this horrible man decided to wear a condom. I’ll bet that would be a horrific experience for you – but hey, at least you’d never have to worry about getting pregnant! When the assault is over, how likely is it that you would go the police and file a legitimate report? If you do file a report, how will you PROVE that you didn’t give consent? You’re a cute young man. You might have been drinking and wearing tight pants. A jury of your peers might assume you were asking for it. They might even assume you are a member of the LGBT community. Maybe your friends would stop inviting you to Super Bowl parties because they would be afraid you would have an ulterior, homosexual motive. None of that would be fair – but this is what often happens in a patriarchal & homophobic society. Additionally, what if you were so upset that you didn’t visit the police right away? What if you waited for a day or two because you wanted to weigh the consequences of admitting this terrifying experience happened to you? Would you be able to prove it? You’d have to have a rectal exam and you’d have to prove you didn’t give consent.

Rick, how would you react if you had to obtain written consent from a woman every time you jerk off? One can easily argue that sperm are living things and might eventually become human life. I’ll bet you have jerked off more than once in your life and it would be easy enough to call you a murderer. But people are not calling you a murderer because that’s just silly – just as silly as your unconstitutional, incredibly flawed, controlling-man-bill.

I am not sure how this will play out. You ARE in very red Missouri and maybe the conservative women who reside in that state enjoy when men dictate their reproductive decisions – but I’ll tell ya’ Rick, most of the people in this country think you are a young lunatic with major identity issues. I hope your bill dies and is deemed unconstitutional. I also hope that you seek therapy for your obvious insecurities as a male and your control issues.

Please take a moment and Like Kimberley A. Johnson on Facebook.

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Letter To State Rep. Rick Brattin: Women Don’t Need Men’s Permission To Get Abortions