Where Is Palin on Women's Health Issues?
In watching the vice presidential debate last night, I kept waiting for this question that never came: Governor Palin, would a McCain-Palin administration make efforts to limit a women's access to abortion and emergency contraception? A lot of other women, I'm sure, are wondering the same thing. We've already heard Palin's personal views on abortion and the morning after pill; as she told Katie Couric, she's against them because she firmly believes that life begins at conception. I do admire her for living by her beliefs, choosing to carry and raise a child with Down syndrome.
But I'd really like to know more about any plans to implement these personal views. Palin also told Couric, when asked if it should be illegal for a girl who was raped to get an abortion: "If you're asking, though, kind of foundationally here, should anyone end up in jail for having an...abortion, absolutely not. That's nothing I would ever support." So, does Palin think abortion should be a legal right or not? I'm still uncertain.
Much has been made, too, of another women's health issue concerning Palin: A law in Wasilla, Alaska, that required rape victims to pay for the "rape kit" used to collect forensic evidence, on the books when Palin was mayor there. In this written response she provided this week to an Alaska newspaper, Palin didn't explain why the law was still in effect under her watch—it was overturned by state legislation before she became governor—though she did, at least, clearly state her views on this in the following statement:
"The entire notion of making a victim of a crime pay for anything is crazy. I do not believe, nor have I ever believed, that rape victims should have to pay for an evidence-gathering test. As governor, I worked in a variety of ways to tackle the problem of sexual assault and rape, including making domestic violence a priority of my administration."
That's the sort of "straight talk" I'd like to hear from her on other issues. For instance, where does she stand on the proposed government rule that could limit your access to contraception and infertility services? (For more on this, see my previous post.) She says she believes there's an inherent right to privacy in the Constitution, a right that was first upheld when the Supreme Court ruled in 1965 that states couldn't ban contraceptives. But, I'm not sure how her libertarian views jibe with her abhorrence of anything—be it IUD or morning after pill—that would cause the destruction of a fertilized egg.
In this blog posted yesterday in the Huffington Post, Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, offered up some great questions that could have been posed to Palin last night. I only wish moderator Gwen Ifill had asked them.
Tags: presidential election 2008 | running mates | women's health | Sarah Palin
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INTELLIGENT RESPONDERS
Chill Out! " It shocks me everyday how ignorant and self-absorbed this world is,"
Sorry about your being shocked. If you ARE part of the younger generation, you should go back to English 101 and learn to spell and write coherent sentences. Nobody is ever going to believe your stance, unless you know how to speak (a least speak a little better English than "aw shucks" Palin, if you want the world to believe your angry position). Idiot!
Are you kidding!
Truly, how can any of you first say that abortion is wrong when someone is raped? Many people I know, including myself have been victim of rape, so what gives you the right to decide my life and what should be done with it? How can you say life begins at conception when there isn't even a heart beat? If you are considered dead when your heart stops beating then you are considered alive when it starts beating. (For those of you saying that people's hearts stop for minutes, such as, 6 minutes their hearts stop and then they start again, fine, let's just say 6 minutes before the hearts start beating in the womb is it actually considered a life.)
Next, the comment about the birth certificate, really where the hell are you from? People have babies all the time in thir houses, in other parts of the country, or world, without others knowing, so what you can't be considered an "American Baby" without a birth certificate. Really? Wake up, don't be so ignorant in the comments you make.
And lastly, on the comment about the "retard", go to hell. You've probably never even worked with, or been around anyone who has a child with downsyndrome. Once again, open your eyes and see that this world doesn't revolve around you. Any child that has downsyndrome is no different than anyone, and quite frankly they are probably a better person, than you will ever be. It shocks me everyday how ignorant and self-absorbed this world is, and yet it's blamed on the "younger" generation. Maybe instead of telling you to grow up, we, the "younger" generation should open your eyes to see that things are changing and society is finally becoming just, especially with tolerance and if people like you weren't in the world, it'd be a much better place, because all you bring to it is hatred and judgment.
Women's Healthcare
Palin does not have a clue, a thought or a plan. Palin is a neophyte who has no interest in policy or government. Her sole objective is to be VP. She has not made one intelligent statement in the five-six weeks since she was selected. By now you would have thought she would read a newspaper, magazine, watch cable or access any website to bring herself current on important issues. She hasn't. She sat through three different interviews and embarrassed women by her incoherent answers. I may sound angry, if I do, it is because I was excited about Palin's selection and quickly discovered she was a phoney and a lier. From the day she was introduced she read her scripted speech and so easily lied, mocked and denigrated a man she did not know nor never met. What surprised me most was how easily she did it. No, she has no plan for women her steely ambition is to be VP. My hope is--she never makes it.
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