sage: var('a y')
(a, y)
sage: f = ((x - 2*y)^4/(x^2 - 4*y^2)^2 + 1)*(y + a)*(2*y + x) / (4*y^2 + x^2)
sage: f.normalize()
2*(x^4 - 4*x^3*y + 8*x^2*y^2 - 16*x*y^3 + 16*y^4)*(a + y)*(x + 2*y)/((x^2 + 4*y^2)*(x^2 - 4*y^2)^2)
sage: ((x - 2*y)^4/(x^2 - 4*y^2)^2).normalize()
(x - 2*y)^4/(x^2 - 4*y^2)^2
This is fixed in recent Pynac.