Dare We Normalize Rape...

...to the extent that we plan for it?

I am afraid that is precisely what Kansas Representative Pete DeGraaf did when he likened a woman planning for the likelihood of being raped, becoming pregnant and seeking an abortion to...I can hardly say it with a straight face, 'planning' for a flat tire by having a spare on hand or death by having life insurance.

"I have a lot of things that I plan ahead for." - DeGraaf

This sort of comparison is way off the mark and hardly a platform for alleged reason.

The representative is really being called to the table on this one.  The Kansas Chapter of NOW has asked for an apology - I have not been able to find if they or other constituents actually received an apology from DeGraff for his insensitive, trivializing comments.

Mother Jones ran an article featuring a Venn Diagram on Rape v. The Flat Tire and there was a campaign on Facebook to send the representative spare tires to protest his thoughtlessness.

By suggesting that ANYONE, but in this case, women, plan for the possibility of rape, normalizes it and I am not content to normalize this act of violence.  Not now.  Not ever.