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Rep. Cathrynn Brown, R-Carlsbad introduced a bill yesterday that would classify as "tampering with evidence" a rape or incest victim having an abortion.
Her House Bill 206 says "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."
That's caught the eye of Slate blogger Dave Weigel as well as The Huffington Post.
Something tells me the national uproar over this could last longer than the meeting of the House Consumer & Public Affairs Committee where it surely will get killed.
UPDATE: 1 pm Rep. Brown just told me that the intent of her bill is not to go after rape and incest victims but to prosecute rapists and incest perpetrators who coerce women into having abortions. She said the current version of the bill is incorrect -- apparently a drafting error -- and it is in the process of being fixed.
UPDATE 3:45 pm Earlier today I asked for comment from Gov. Susana Martinez. Her spokesman Enrique Knell told me a few minutes ago that Martinez, as a career prosecutor always tried to be a strong voice for crime victims. "She would never support a bill that re-victimized rape survivors," he said.
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