Redefining Rape?

I've been seeing posts on Facebook throwing hysterical fits over the Speaker's "evil plan to redefine rape". According to the posts and the online petitions, the Speaker is offering a bill that will redefine to mean *only* forcible rape. Date rape, rape while the victim is under the influence of drugs, rape of the unconscious, and so on, would not count as rape. Are Republicans seriously planning to redefine rape?
No, not quite. Salon has a <a href = "http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/02/01/hr3_abortion_rape">piece</a> about it. It refers to HR 3, which proposes to limit funding for abortions. It doesn't specify that certain forms of rape are no longer criminal acts. It "merely" limits the forms of rape that will make the victim eligible for Federal funding for an abortion.
SEC. 309. TREATMENT OF ABORTIONS RELATED TO RAPE, INCEST, OR PRESERVING THE LIFE OF THE MOTHER.
'The limitations established in sections 301, 302, 303, and 304 shall not apply to an abortion--
'(1) if the pregnancy occurred because the pregnant female was the subject of an act of forcible rape or, if a minor, an act of incest...
<http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h112-3&version=ih&nid=t0%3Aih%3A40>
It all comes down to definitions.
In this case, rape remains rape, but only forcible rape qualifies for special coverage. In the same fashion, a law saying only murder with "special circumstances" qualifies for the death penalty is not "redefining murder". It's setting aside a particular class of murders that are subject to a particular action -- in this case, te death penalty.
Agree or disagree with the bill, the point -- the sole point of the original post -- is that the bill does not "redefine rape". It dec...lines to extend a benefit to a subset of people who might otherwise want it.
And for that matter, rape is handled under criminal codes at the state level and below, not at the federal level. I'm not sure a law redefining rape would make it past the Supreme Court.
Nevertheless, my Facebook post, where I point out the bill does not redefine the crime of rape, but "merely" states only a particular subset of rapes will be eligible for federal funding of abortions, drew more comments than I've seen in any non-celebrity posts. (Around 90 at last count). Granted, a lot of those were my responses to people, but even so, that's a lot of commenting. And what's interesting is the bulk of the comments focused abortions. Why abortion should be legal. Why people should get federal funding for abortion. Why it's wrong to deny funding for abortion.
A similar post, where I went specifically into the question of whether people who are victims of crimes should receive federal funds to be made whole, has been dead.
Conclusion: The passion in the discussion is not about rape. It's about abortion.