House speaker’s child-rape bill is a joke
A clap of the hands, if you please, for this year’s legislative winner in that coveted category: Most Impressive Sounding Bill That Does Absolutely Nothing.
Naturally, there were a lot of entries in this highly competitive category at the Arizona Capitol. But a latecomer takes top honors — a last-minute bill to give child victims of sexual assault more time to sue their rapists and the organizations that enable them.
Specifically, until they turn 30, up from 20.
Never mind that the average age that child victims of sexual assault come forward is 52, according to Child USA, a non-profit think tank that works on child abuse issues.
That is, after all, beside the point. This bill is aimed not at getting justice for child rape victims but at getting Republican Sens. Paul Boyer and Heather Carter to vote for a state budget, sparing legislative leaders from having to deal with — gasp! — Democrats.
So far, they are standing tough. “Behind the scenes, they are making it look like this is something for victims when the reality is, it’s not,” Boyer, R-Glendale, told me on May 20.
Boyer and Carter, R-Phoenix, are vowing not to vote for the budget unless Boyer’s bill, which actually would help children and victims of child rape, is given a chance.
When it comes to childhood victims of sexual assault, Arizona is one of the most generous states — for child rapists, that is. Victims must generally file a civil suit by the time they are 20 or they are out of luck.
Boyer has proposed giving victims seven years to sue, but the clock wouldn’t start ticking until the person discloses the assault to a licensed medical or mental health professional. His original bill also included a twoyear window to file claims for those whose statute of limitations already has run out, but he’s given up on that.
Even so, his bill was a non-starter in the Senate, prompting him and Carter to declare themselves holdouts on the budget until his bill is brought to a vote.
Enter House Speaker Rusty Bowers. Late last week, the Mesa Republican suddenly was inspired to introduce his own statute-of-limitations bill, the one that gives child-rape victims until they are 30 to file lawsuits.
Bowers has touted the bill as significant reform, noting that victims over age 30 also would have a year to file a civil lawsuit if criminal charges are filed. But that’s already state law. (See: ARS 12-511a).
Magically, Bowers’ bill was introduced May 16 and put to a vote in the House Rules Committee May 20, when no public testimony was allowed.
House Rules Chairman Anthony
adopted by legislative bodies in Alabama, Missouri, Georgia and Ohio, which critics say would virtually ban abortions in violation of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that legalized abortion in the United States.
“Seventy-three percent of Americans say they do not want to see Roe be overturned, nearly 1 in 4 women in this country will have an abortion in her lifetime,” said Jodi Liggett, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona.
Counterprotesters stood behind the crowd chanting in opposition.
“Abortion is the destruction of an innocent human being, created in the image of God,” said Zack Morgan, who was among the counterprotesters.
Members of the Center for Arizona Policy, which has lobbied for stricter abortion laws in Arizona, had a presence at the rally.
“This Stop the Bans rally represents a very extreme view on abortion, the Stop the Bans proponents favor abortion laws like New York that celebrate abortion up until the moment of birth,” said Cathi Herrod, president for the Center for Arizona Policy.
The Center for Arizona Policy organization “has long advocated for laws that will protect the health and well-being of women considering abortion, that will ensure that women are given options, as to what their choices are, what the risks and alternatives to abortion are,” Herrod said.
Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union introduced speakers who spoke out against the strict laws.
“It is enraging that as a middle child with two brothers that there is not one law regulating their bodies, nor would I want there to be, and yet there are over 1,200 laws regulating mine and I am only talking about those signed into law in the past seven years alone,” said State Rep. Athena Salman of Tempe.
Luisa Hall Valdez, a patient advocate and Planned Parenthood Arizona volunteer escort, share a personal story.
“I was nearly 19 years old when I had my second abortion, I was a newlywed, and just spent my time in my first duty station, I was assigned to an-all male infantry unit where I was a survivor of military sexual assault,” she said.
As the rally ended, activists on both sides of the issue met on the lawn, chanting and holding their opposing signs. As the crowd began to fade, abortion-rights activists began to chant, “We stand for all women.”
“Politicians should not be interfering with my personal decisions, my daughter’s personal decisions, all of your personal decisions, or anybody’s personal decisions about their health care,” said Kathy Brody, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona.
Alabama’s bill is considered the strictest in the country, banning the procedure in all cases except where the mother’s life is in danger. It is seen as a vehicle to eventually force a ruling at the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.
A fetal “heartbeat” bill signed into law in Ohio was designed to bring the issue of fetal personhood to the Supreme Court. A similar bill in Georgia bans abortions after six weeks.The Missouri bill was designed to do the same thing, with no exceptions for incest or rape.
Arizona abortion-rights activists contend that should the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade, the impact in Arizona could be significant. Since at least the early 1960s, Arizona has had laws on its books banning abortion and restricting birth control. Those laws are not enforced because of the court’s ruling, but they were never removed.