Thread by @jentiphansen

@MOHouseGOP @MOHouseDems
Rep. Hovis,
I know you said you misspoke when you said "consensual rape", but we both know you meant what you said. Women are sexually assaulted frequently in Missouri. Since you are a former law enforcement officer and said you dealt with rape cases, 1/

your comments are disturbing, but not surprising. Women are not believed when they come forward about sexual assault and rape. The man always gets the benefit of the doubt and the woman or girl is violated a second time by those who are entrusted to protect and bring justice 2/

for her assault. 99% of all reported rapes are true. In fact,  I personally know more women who have been seriously sexually assaulted than I have fingers, and the number of those women who reported their experience to authorities is ZERO. They are scared and embarrassed and 3/

traumatized and they know that it is people like you who they will have to talk to if they report.  
Women are taught at a young age to do everything possible to protect themselves from men. Potential victims are expected to be responsible for not being attacked. Men are not 4/

told that they shouldn't assault women.  I admit that even I was indoctrinated with this attitude.  When my best friend was sexually assaulted when we were in college 20 years ago, I was less than supportive.  I couldn't believe that she could be so stupid to act so 5/

recklessly.  She had gone into a room alone with a man. That was the horrible mistake she made. What did she expect? That the man wouldn't attack her and rip her pants down and shove his fist into her vagina before raping her? I was upset with her more than the rapist. 6/

She has been trying to heal from this experience for 20 years.  I have met many more women since then who have their own stories of assault (and I have realized how wrong my attitude was- there was nothing these women did wrong), 7/

but not one of them felt like they could go to the police. They believed it would actually make things worse and your words and other officers and lawmakers words have validated their fears. 8/

I'd like to ask you this- What are you planning to do to punish the person who caused the unwanted pregnancy- the man who irresponsibly ejaculated? What is his responsibility and punishment? How does the state plan to cover the prenatal care, maternity care, child healthcare, 9/

mental health care, maternity leave, and financial assistance to raise a child for all of the women you are now forcing to give birth. What programs will you put in place to address the increase of people living in poverty, child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, 10/

foster care and the organizations that provide social workers, lawyers, etc. for these families? Are you really so ignorant and short-sighted that you have not anticipated the effects of thousands of unwanted children being born every year in Missouri? 11/

What healthcare resources will you provide to the women and fetuses who have serious or fatal health issues due to pregnancy if abortion is not an option? What healthcare programs will you provide to the women who go to extreme lengths to end their pregnancy 12/

when safe abortion is not an option. Women will continue to get abortions regardless of the law because of many serious and important reasons- we know this is true from our own country's history as well as studies in other backwards countries with abortion bans, 13/

but now they will endanger their lives because a safe medical procedure isn't an option anymore. Since you feel that people do not deserve reproduction rights or bodily autonomy, I expect to see you champion equally harsh bills to police men's bodies, 14/

unless you are a total hypocrite? I look forward to you solving all of these unnecessary problems that you have created. Please pass on to your law enforcement buddies that they are failing sexual assault victims and they should believe women when they actually report assault 15/

because those are the bravest women and just the tip of a very large iceberg of victims.  Every woman has a story of being inappropriately touched by a man. It has happened to me multiple times, but as a woman in America, like most of us, I just shrugged them off because they 16/

weren't "that bad" since it wasn't rape and I wasn't hurt too much. That's what it's like for women.  If you can't accept that or empathize with what it's like for women, then kindly step aside- you have no business being involved in any aspect of policies that affect women. END