Just one day after quietly introducing a whopper of a bill that would categorize abortions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest as \u201ctampering with evidence,\u201d New Mexico State Rep. Cathrynn N. Brown found herself doing some swift damage control.<\/p>\n
As it still currently appears on the New Mexico Legislature\u2019s page, Bill HB206 is blazingly, insanely straightforward. It explains that \u201ctampering 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\u201d and states \u201cwhoever commits tampering with evidence shall be punished\u201d with varying degrees of felony charges. Isn\u2019t it sweet when politicians try to defend the cause of \u201clife\u201d by categorizing fetuses as \u201cevidence\u201d? As one skeptic pondered Thursday, \u201cSo I assume, as evidence, the court will be holding the fetus in a locker and destroying it after trial?\u201d<\/p>\n
But Brown\u2019s clever ruse to redefine a woman\u2019s constitutional right as criminal tampering didn\u2019t go over very well, and as the bill made national headlines Thursday, Brown not so coincidentally removed her contact information from her legislature page. But her personal Web page, which greets visitors with a photo from the governor\u2019s prayer breakfast, tells a tale of somebody who\u2019s been trying to tweak the narrative. There\u2019s a record of two now-deleted posts entered on Thursday evening, followed by a statement from Brown that reads, \u201cThis is the bill that I will introduce that protects women and girls from incest and other sex crimes: It makes it clear that the mother of the fetus would never be charged. This bill ensures the prosecution of the offender and protection of the victim.\u201d<\/p>\n