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Once again no women on Maryland rape bill panel, Entity reports.

A panel of five men in Maryland voted to strike down the Rape Survivor Family Protection Act.

The Act would allow a woman who is raped and conceives a child to terminate the parental rights of her assailant.

That’s right – this bill doesn’t even have to do with the apparently oh-so controversial notion of abortion. This time Maryland conservatives were fighting to ensure that an alleged rapist has rights to his victim’s child.

Okay, now this is just getting ridiculous. As it stands in Maryland – one of 16 states who have not passed any such protections – women have to negotiate with their rapists over child custody or putting the child up for adoption.

Delegate Kathleen Dumais has been fighting for this protection for ages. This is the NINTH time she has tried to pass it. And not one woman was on the voting panel, put together by – shocker – a bunch of men.

A bunch of old, political bros put their like-minded friends on a committee and once again voted away women’s autonomy. It was just like any other day.

Sen. Michael J. Hough even had the gall to say, “This is not a man or woman issue.” Oh, really? Whether or not a woman has to consult with an alleged rapist over how she’d like to handle her own reproductive health is not a woman’s issue…?

Now it’s back to the drawing board for Dumais, as well as any other legislators who share the audacious belief that women deserve control over their own bodies. Hopefully tenth time’s the charm.

In the meantime, all I can think about is something Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) shouted at her ex Ross (David Schwimmer) on “Friends,” “No uterus – no opinion!” Sounds about right.

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