If you think Todd Akin's on the lunatic fringe of the Republican Party, wait til you see some of the bills Congressman Billy Long is co-sponsoring:

H.R. 3 - which redefines rape and removes the exclusion for statutory rape,
H.R. 212 - Life begins at fertilization
H.R. 374 - The Human Life Amendment which affords 14th Amendment rights to fertilized eggs.

Last year Rep Tim Jones sent me an email late, late one night. In that email he told me "You keep your Government out of my doctor's office, out of my pocketbook and out of my business" His usage of the word 'business' was in the context of 'mind your own business' --- get out of my life. Yep, that' what he meant.

Apparently Billy Long doesn't share the same sentiments as Birther Jones about keeping the government out of our business. Congressman Billy Long wants to be involved in your business, especially your sex life.

Earlier I posted about Billy Long being an original co-sponsor of HR3, the bill that has become famous as the bill that redefines rape.

An original so-sponsor is different that a co-sponsor. An original co-sponsor was on the bill from the start. A co-sponsor jumped on the bill after it became apparent it had enough votes to pass. This is simplified of course, but Billy was on this bill to redefine rape from the get go.

What this means in real life is horrible.

Billy Long co-sponsored and voted for a bill that would... here, it's easier to explain in a hypothetical.

Your 13 year old daughter, the apple of your eye, honor student, volleyball player on a good team, active in your church is brutally assaulted and raped by your wife's sister's husband.

And, to add horror to the horror, the rapist's sperm fertilizes one of your daughter's eggs and your daughter becomes pregnant.

Your 13 year old daughter, eighth grader in middle school, pregnant with a rapist's child. Horrible. Terribly horrible. Your daughter's body can't handle a pregnancy. For your daughter's health the pregnancy needs to be terminated.

But Billy Long, your congressman says NO! Your daughter MUST carry the pregnancy to term. His "YEA" vote on HR3 says no to abortion, even in cases of rape and incest of minors. The committee report for H.R. 3 says that the bill will “not allow the Federal Government to subsidize abortions in cases of statutory rape.”

Billy Long also voted to cut funding for Planned Parenthood, a place your daughter could have gone to to get help with her pregnancy.

But there's more.

Remember on August 1 when Billy Long was on national tv talking about how America is no longer the land of the free?


Here's Billy's statement:

You don't have to worry about the brave. We're still home of the brave, but we're not the land of the free anymore. And we need to get that straight. When you're not free to practice religious freedom in this country, what in the world have we come to? Seriously, goodness gracious. The land of the free, the home of the brave. We're no longer free in this country.

Billy was upset that the Affordable Care Act mandated that insurance companies had to provide:
well-woman visits;
screening for gestational diabetes;
human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing for women 30 years and older;
sexually-transmitted infection counseling;
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening and counseling;
FDA-approved contraception methods and contraceptive counseling;
breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling; and
domestic violence screening and counseling

Maybe Billy should have fact-checked, according to the prestigious Guttmacher Institute, Missouri and 26 other states already required insurers that covered prescription drugs to provide coverage of FDA approved contraceptive drugs and devices. Your outrage was faked. Some would call it "showboating". I call it pathetic.

But there's more. Today Paul Ryan said that 'nobody's trying to take away your birth control.' Looks to me that that's what Billy was saying in his land of the free statement.

But there's more:

H.R.212 Sanctity of Human Life Act: To provide that human life shall be deemed to begin with fertilization. Billy Long is an original co-sponsor on this bill.

But first we all need to be on the same page, so a quick overview of what happens when the egg meets the sperm.

Once a mature egg has been released by the ovary or ovulation has taken place, the egg will move into the fallopian tube. At this time, the body makes the necessary preparations for a possible pregnancy. The uterus lining called the endometrium thickens all set for the fertilized egg to embed itself. Fertilization takes place in the fallopian tube. Contractions of the tube along with the tiny hairs called cilia help to move the egg towards the uterus. The egg survives for only 24 hours in the fallopian tube. If fertilization does not take place, the egg will be reabsorbed into the system, the endometrium will come away and bleeding will commence as another menstrual cycle begins.

Journey of the SPERM

The sperm swims very quickly from the vagina into the cervix after ejaculation. It will swim towards the waiting egg into the fallopian tube. Special chemicals emitted from the egg attract the sperm towards it. Of the many sperms racing toward the egg, only one sperm will succeed in penetrating the egg. New chemicals are released by the egg to seal it and hence prevent other sperm from breaking through. The sperm that managed to fuse with the egg sheds its tail and body. Chromosomes from the sperm join with those of the egg.

Fertilization

The egg is usually fertilized in the fallopian tubes. (According to H.R.212 at this time this egg is now a legal person) Once the fusion occurs, hormones prevent the endometrium from breaking down. (No periods for 9 months or so). The blastocyst burrows into the thick lining. Finger-like projections sprout to develop into the placenta from the outer layer of cells. The pregnancy is now established with the placenta forming a crucial link between the mother and the embryo.

But there's a catch. And it's some catch this catch.

If a woman wants birth control that works — for years, one of the safest and most effective methods is an intrauterine device (IUD). The IUD is inserted into a woman’s uterus by a doctor and can remain in place for 5–12 years. Its side effects are few, and, with proper use, the IUD is an extremely effective contraceptive.

The IUD is a small plastic device containing either a hormone or copper that is inserted into a woman’s uterus. IUDs work either by preventing the fertilization of the egg or by preventing implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterine wall. The IUD is inserted into the uterus through the cervix during menstruation, with a small string that hangs down from the end and protrudes through the cervix into the vagina.

If a woman uses an IUD as birth control,and the IUD prevents a fertilized egg from implanting on the uterine wall, in Billy Long's mind you have just committed murder.

Billy Long is also an original co-sponsor of H.R.374 (The Human Life Amendment) which implements equal protection under the 14th article of amendment to the Constitution for the right to life of each born and preborn human person.

If a fertilized egg is really granted equal protection under the law as a human being per the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, a number of outcomes would follow:

Abortions of all types, including in cases of rape, incest and threats to the health of the mother, would be outlawed, since under U.S. law there is no legal right to terminate an adult human life except as a punishment for murder, and fertilized eggs under this Human Life Amendment are now considered human.

The Intra-uterine device (IUD), Plan B and the birth control pill would be outlawed. These contraceptives work by, at least in part, preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg in the uterine wall. If H.R. 374 were passed and fertilized eggs were granted protection under law equal to that of adult human beings, women using these contraceptives would be guilty of felony, involuntary manslaughter at the least.

In vitro fertility clinics would be outlawed or forced to radically change their policies so that every created embryo would be implanted into a woman, whether eventually viable or not. The hundreds of thousands of currently frozen embryos would become wards of the state with legal rights equal to yours.

The termination of ectopic and molar pregnancies would be outlawed. Even though these pregnancies cannot survive and commonly end in the death of a mother when they run their course, they would be guaranteed protection under law equal to that of any person.

The prevention of natural miscarriage (arguably constituting the outcome of a majority of fertilizations) would be made a public health project on equal footing with efforts to end epidemics, stop strokes or inoculate against childhood diseases.

This is Billy Long. And if he tells us these laws, while they passed or will pass the House, will never pass the senate and if by some chance they did pass both chambers, the president would veto them. If that is what you believe Billy, then why did you vote for them?