Ux4: "In the emergency room they have what's called rape kits where a woman can get cleaned out"

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Sunday June 23, 2013 · 7:55 PM PDT

2013/06/23 · 19:55

That's a direct quote from Texas State Representative Jodie Laubenberg.

Take a wild fucking guess which party she belongs to.

No details beyond that at the moment; I don't have a specific source yet, will add one when I can. I'm sure it'll be all over the news by the morning, and I'll be sure to add it to the Chart tomorrow, but I wanted to at least get it on the record this evening.

Only surprise: The fact that a woman could say something so utterly stupid and revolting about this particular topic (then again, there was Sharon Angle and her "lemons out of lemonade" comment...)

Update: OK, I don't have the recording or a news article yet, but I have it from three different sources who are live-blogging the Texas legislature proceedings:

Thanks to Binders Full of Women for first alerting me to it.

Second source (original one I'm guessing) is a tweet from @ClinicEscort

Finally, a Shelby Cole on Facebook replied to my request for a source by stating simply "I'm sitting in the room. She said it."

And, Texas Republicans being Republicans, they just defeated the amendment to exclude rape/incest survivors from their abortion ban.

Update: Whoa. This is a bit surreal in a meta-self-referencial way...19 minutes ago UniteWomen.org just referenced this diary (posted only 70 minutes ago) when posting a graphic depicting the quote by Laubenberg.

Update x2: Big shocker: Laudenberg is on the Texas House Public Health Committee, and apparently used to be the Chair of it. Lovely.

--Womantrust just added a 4th confirmation of this quote in the comments. With that in mind, I'm formally adding it to Volume VII of the Chart (see below)

IMPORTANT UPDATE x3: I finally have a more official source for the quote...and in context, it's far, far WORSE than you'd think:

The bill's sponsor stopped answering questions about her bill after the first two hours after she got into trouble denying Democratic amendments. When Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, called for an exemption for women who were victims of rape and incest, Rep. Jody Laubenberg, R-Parker, explained why she felt it was unnecessary.
"In the emergency room they have what's called rape kits where a woman can get cleaned out," she said, comparing the procedure to an abortion. "The woman had five months to make that decision, at this point we are looking at a baby that is very far along in its development."

Her apparent confusion about "rape kits" — a phrase generally used to describe the equipment used by medical personnel during forensic examinations to gather physical evidence following allegations of rape or sexual assault — sparked widespread ridicule on social media sites. Laubenberg, who has difficulty debating bills, then simply rejected all proposed changes to her bill without speaking until the end of the debate.

Update x4: Wow. Apparently this diary was being printed out and distributed to the public last night!

@brainwrap @karltm That's right. One of our strongest #prochoice Reps was walking around the House Gallery handing out copies to the public.
— Julie Montgomery (@juliamontgomery) June 24, 2013

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