{"id":44456,"date":"2024-04-19T15:36:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-19T19:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=44456"},"modified":"2024-04-19T15:36:06","modified_gmt":"2024-04-19T19:36:06","slug":"forced-birth-is-local-pt-1-what-is-the-rape-exception-protocol-sheriff-judd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2024\/04\/19\/forced-birth-is-local-pt-1-what-is-the-rape-exception-protocol-sheriff-judd\/","title":{"rendered":"Forced birth is local, pt. 1: what is the rape exception protocol, Sheriff Judd?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Billy Townsend<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Individual local police officers are the new real-time gatekeepers of the “rape, incest, and human trafficking” exceptions to 6-week forced birth in a state that ended 85,000 pregnancies last year.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In Part 2, we\u2019ll look at the so-called medical \u201cexceptions,\u201d which are just as cruel, mindless, and bureaucratic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Jennifer Canady, R-Lakeland\u2019s 6-week forced birth law takes effect on May 1, no matter how desperate she is to run away from it.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is real. This is happening. And Canady, like everyone else, is saddled with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What follows is the statutory text of the theoretical<\/strong><\/em> \u201crape, incest, and human trafficking exception\u201d language in the law she sponsored. Note what I\u2019ve circled. Whether or not Canady personally wrote the exception language, she is 100 percent responsible for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you are a rape victim who discovers you are pregnant with your rapist\u2019s fetus on May 1, you are still entitled to end your pregnancy until 15 weeks<\/strong><\/em> of pregnancy \u2014 in theory<\/strong><\/em>, on paper<\/strong><\/em>, in cheap political rhetoric.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In real life, nobody has any idea how the hell that will work; and the mechanics of seeking a rape exception look nightmarishly vague and bureaucratic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, as of now, rape, incest, human trafficking exceptions will be granted entirely<\/strong><\/em> on the vibes<\/strong><\/em> individual police officers get in talking to women seeking to end a pregnancy after 6-weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Endless official irresponsibility and moral cowardice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Canady and Polk County Sheriff Grady and State Attorney Brian Haas should have long ago issued a joint public information sheet titled: \u201cIf you need a rape, incest, or human trafficking pregnancy termination: What to do, who to call, what to expect.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would bet $10 that they will never<\/strong><\/em> do this. Forced birth is always somebody else\u2019s problem for fake \u201cpro-lifers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know<\/strong><\/em> Jennifer Canady won\u2019t do that because she\u2019s a deeply unserious status hunting political nepo afraid to even mention her own 6-week forced birth law on her own campaign mailer.<\/a> She has no interest<\/strong><\/em> in helping operationalize her fake beliefs in a responsible and vaguely humane way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I\u2019m testing my hypothesis with Judd, Haas, and the Lakeland Police Department. I sent this email last Sunday to all three seeking clarification. Note the part in bold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

As you may know, forced birth at 6 weeks becomes Florida law within days. There is a so-called “rape exception” to the law. I’m copying it below. The “rape exception” language is very unclear on who has authority to grant the “rape exception.”  And obviously, 6 weeks (or even 15 weeks) is not enough to legally adjudicate a rape accusation. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you please share how your agencies will determine if a girl or woman is eligible for the “rape exception.” What is the protocol a rape victim should follow? Who should they call for approval? How do you interpret your duties within the exception.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have any public record related to the “rape exception” protocol, I’d like to see it. But I’m mostly interested in helping explain publicly to rape victims how they can legally end a pregnancy. So please help me in this public service. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I haven\u2019t received an official response yet from anyone. But I do have reason to believe that LPD, at least, is taking the question seriously. LPD, as a non-elected law enforcement agency, is in a bit of a different category that Judd and Haas, who should really<\/strong><\/em> take the lead on this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vibe exception: individual police officers decide in real time if you get a rape, incest, or human trafficking abortion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Of the many social bombs ticking within that vague language, here is the biggest:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rape (sexual battery), incest, and human trafficking are legally defined<\/strong><\/em> crimes. There is not remotely enough time to adjudicate legally whether such crimes created the pregnancy that the alleged victim is racing to end by 15 weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, rape, incest, human trafficking exceptions will be granted entirely<\/strong><\/em> on vibes<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 not legal determinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plain text of the law gives any<\/strong><\/em> individual police officer<\/strong><\/em> the authority\/obligation to grant or deny a rape exception based on the content of his or her \u201cpolice report.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does that police officer, in the moment, believe a rape accusation enough to define it as rape in writing? That\u2019s the only question that really matters. What extraordinary personal power to hand anyone. Read the rape exception again for yourself if you doubt me. Note what I\u2019ve circled:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A \u201cpolice report\u201d is just a report \u2014 it\u2019s not an arrest or conviction. It verifies nothing,<\/strong><\/em> legally. It means nothing<\/strong><\/em>, legally. Same with a \u201cmedical record.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an expression of the vibes<\/strong><\/em> a police officer gets from the \u201cevidence\u201d immediately available. Same with a restraining order from a court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even the \u201ceasy\u201d exception is a nightmare<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, consider the most cut-and-dried, and rarest, form of rape: violent stranger abduction and sexual battery without a witness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most likely the victim reports it immediately and goes to the hospital. She has both a police record and a medical record documenting that she reported<\/strong><\/em> rape. Medical providers may<\/strong><\/em> see physical signs of rape when they examine her. But no one can really, legally verify<\/strong><\/em> that she was raped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This victim would likely receive some kind of emergency contraception. Thus the \u201crape scenario\u201d most people conjure when they hear \u201crape exception\u201d isn\u2019t even in part of the \u201crape exception\u201d conversation in most instances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, what if the stranger victim doesn\u2019t report the rape immediately? Trauma and misplaced shame does weird, painful things to people. And what if she finds herself pregnant after 6 weeks? How hard is that conversation with police when there is no medical record \u2014 and the clock is ticking toward Canady\u2019s exception line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Woman:<\/strong> I was raped. I don\u2019t know by who. I need to end this pregnancy. I have a husband and children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cop taking police report:<\/strong> Um, ok. Are you sure? Sure this isn\u2019t an affair gone bad?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woman:<\/strong> Oh my god. Are you serious?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cop taking police report:<\/strong> OK, ok, I\u2019ll call it rape in my report.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s the \u201ceasy\u201d<\/strong><\/em> exception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expect those rape crime stats to jump<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Florida openly, legally ends 85,000 pregnancy terminations each year. See this article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is Ron DeSantis’ Florida creating so many abortions?<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
BILLY TOWNSEND<\/a>\u00b7JUNE 10, 2022<\/td><\/tr>
\"Why<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Florida\u2019s Republican state government has tried very hard \u2014 through open cruelty and endless bureaucratic\/legal headaches \u2014 to discourage and\/or prevent Florida women and girls from medically ending their pregnancies. Florida has failed in that effort<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Read full story<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Six-week forced birth creates an almost total<\/strong><\/em> barrier to open, legal pregnancy termination. Many\/most women not seeking to get pregnant don\u2019t even know they\u2019re pregnant by 6 weeks. Once they discover they\u2019re pregnant, the clock is racing toward the vicious, pointless, medically-absurd 15-week deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, the very arbitrariness of the 15-week exception deadline and the vibe-based reality of the exceptions themselves offers a reasonably clear path to keeping<\/strong><\/em> de facto 15-week forced birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It creates a massive<\/strong><\/em> incentive for girls and women and their boyfriends to claim anonymous, never-to-be prosecuted rapes. It creates a massive incentive for girls\/women to accuse their boyfriends\/hook-ups of rape. That\u2019s the ticket to ending an unwanted pregnancy. It comes with no obvious consequence, right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t shoot the messenger. I didn\u2019t write this stupid and brutal law. I just read it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shutting down these incentives to declare rape depends on individual police officers and medical workers being willing to declare, without any evidence<\/strong><\/em>, that a woman or girl claiming a rape, incest, or human trafficking pregnancy is lying<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And because these exceptions are all crimes, a medical worker\u2019s opinion is likely to be funneled to police anyway for investigation. There are all sorts of mandatory reporting requirements. And I suspect a cop can overrule the judgement of a medical provider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Postcards from exception enforcement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Thus, if some specific powerful local person is not named the poobah of the Polk County forced birth exception clearinghouse, the gate-keepers of the \u201crape exception\u201d will likely be the individual police officers and deputies who take statements from woman and girls and write reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The women and girls need<\/strong><\/em> those reports to end a pregnancy after 6 weeks. Think about the power balance of that. And let\u2019s consider some scenarios of how this might play out in real life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each scenario involves individual police officers<\/strong><\/em> making a individual<\/strong><\/em> judgment<\/strong><\/em> in writing about the veracity of a girl\/woman\u2019s rape report. And the boy\/man\/rapist is very much a crucial character in the drama:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seventeen-year-old girl pregnant. Unclear how she\u2019s pregnant; but she has 17-year-old boyfriend.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n

Girl:<\/strong> I was raped. I need to end this pregnancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cop:<\/strong> Really, you were raped? By whom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Girl:<\/strong> I don\u2019t know. It was a party. I was roofied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cop:<\/strong> I have to have a name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Girl:<\/strong> Ok, it was actually my boyfriend, Bobby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cop:<\/strong> Now I don\u2019t believe you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Girl:<\/strong> It\u2019s true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cop:<\/strong> Ok, I have to arrest him.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

13-year-old girl pregnant by 20-year-old \u201cboyfriend\u201d and\/or family acquaintance<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Call this the Karl Malone scenario. <\/a>It is quite common, as I understand the statistics etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Cop:<\/strong> We have a child abuse hotline report that you\u2019re pregnant. Your obstetrician was obligated to report. You\u2019re too young to give consent. You\u2019ve been raped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Girl\u2019s Sketchy Parent:<\/strong> Does that mean she can have an abortion?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cop:<\/strong> Yes, maybe, if she\u2019s hurries. But she\u2019s at 10 weeks now. And I need to know who raped you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Girl:<\/strong> Nobody raped me. I love him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cop:<\/strong> He doesn\u2019t love you; he\u2019s a rapist. You\u2019re too young to consent. If you don\u2019t tell me his name, you can\u2019t have an abortion. And I have to arrest him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sketchy Parent:<\/strong> But he\u2019s a family acquaintance. We prefer to handle this internally. It\u2019s not really rape, is it? But she\u2019s too young to consent, so she can get an abortion, right?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

25-year-old, self-declared human trafficking victim from another country<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n

Woman, speaking in broken English:<\/strong> I\u2019m pregnant with a client\u2019s fetus. I need an abortion. I was able to sneak away from my trafficker\/pimp this morning. Can you help?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cop:<\/strong> Yes. But how do I know you\u2019ve been human trafficked?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woman:<\/strong> I\u2019m telling you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cop:<\/strong> Who are the traffickers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woman:<\/strong> I can\u2019t say. They\u2019ll kill me. They\u2019ll kill me if they know I\u2019m talking to you. And I don\u2019t want to be deported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cop:<\/strong> Well, you can\u2019t have an abortion, unless, maybe you could do me a favor first.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

16-year-old girl pregnant by her father<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n

Girl:<\/strong> I\u2019m pregnant by my Dad. I need an abortion<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cop:<\/strong> You\u2019re what?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Girl:<\/strong> I know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cop:<\/strong> Ummmm, I\u2019m really sorry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Girl:<\/strong> Can I have an abortion?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cop:<\/strong> I think we have to ask Kelli and John Stargel. They say a parent has to approve it.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Girl:<\/strong> My mom isn\u2019t around. My Dad has to approve it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cop:<\/strong> I think so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Girl:<\/strong> You think so?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cop:<\/strong> I think you have to go to court, a least. Do you have a lawyer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Girl:<\/strong> No, of course not. Does he get to come?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cop:<\/strong> Probably. Listen, are you sure it was your Dad?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Girl:<\/strong> Oh my God. Seriously?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Local, local, local<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In real life, come May 1, if you find yourself or a loved one or just a fellow human being in anything like these scenarios, you will likely need a lawyer or effective personal advocate to even have a shot at getting through that wall of passive legislative aggression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you find yourself denied by an individual police officer \u2014 or bounced between people claiming they have no authority to do anything \u2014 you need to call your local elected and public officials to help you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most have been publicly claiming they want<\/strong><\/em> this for years. They\u2019re very very quiet now.<\/a> But make them help you. They have the most power, platform, and responsibility to cut through gross and badly written state<\/strong><\/em> laws to get to specific local<\/strong><\/em> results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yes, I\u2019m talking about you<\/strong><\/em>, Lakeland city commissioners and Polk County commissioners and maybe Polk School Board members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obtaining local rape, incest, and exceptions for pregnancy termination is now part of your<\/strong><\/em> constituent work. Remember, this is what you said you<\/strong><\/em> wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six-week forced birth and pregnancy termination is local<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local<\/strong><\/em> women and girls seek it; local<\/strong><\/em> doctors perform it; local<\/strong><\/em> health care bureaucracies will consult their lawyers about; local<\/strong><\/em> cops will approve or deny it, based on what they write in incident reports to which there are no apparent appeals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All that bullshit ya\u2019ll never meant; all that bullshit Roe protected you from so you could bathe publicly in your cheap moral vanity; is now in your<\/strong><\/em> face in your<\/strong><\/em> community. It\u2019s not somebody else\u2019s responsibility. It\u2019s yours<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I fully<\/strong><\/em> expect you to duck it. Prove me wrong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Billy Townsend Individual local police officers are the new real-time gatekeepers of the “rape, incest, and human trafficking” exceptions to 6-week forced birth in a state that ended 85,000… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"0","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[8234,8235,8236],"class_list":["post-44456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-forced-birth-is-local","tag-pt-1-what-is-the-rape-exception-protocol","tag-sheriff-judd"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}