Laubenberg says her “rape kit” claim may have come out muddled

In Texas House debate on Sunday, Rep. Jodie Laubenberg, the lead House sponsor of a measure intended to restrict abortions, described “rape kits” used by medical practitioners after sexual assaults as akin to a procedure that scrapes out tissue lining the uterus.

Truth-O-Meter said: Pants on Fire!

We did not reach Laubenberg before that fact check posted. But the next morning, Laubenberg told us by telephone that she knows a rape kit does not include the “dilation and curettage” procedure and that a kit also does not cause abortions. In the debate, Laubenberg said, she was trying to say that a rape survivor who goes to a hospital might be offered the morning-after pill to ward off pregnancy, though she said she is aware the pill is not part of a rape kit, which is used to collect evidence after an assault.

Laubenberg, R-Parker, added that her point may have been muddled. “You’re trying to get your thoughts out as fast as you can,” she said.

Today the Texas Senate evidently controls whether Senate Bill 5, pitched by advocates as as improving the safety of abortion clinics and restricting certain late-term abortions, will make it to Gov. Rick Perry before a 30-day special session ends at midnight.

Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth, poised to filibuster the proposal, has seen the Truth-O-Meter before. See her PolitiFact Texas report card here.

See our latest Laubenberg fact check amid others to the right.

What else should we check?