| By Dave Harding, ProgressOhio - Sep 18th, 2008 at 10:41 am EDT |
Despite denials by the Palin campaign, new evidence proves that as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, Sarah Palin had a direct hand in imposing fees to pay for post-sexual assault medical exams conducted by the city to gather evidence.
Palin's role is now confirmed by Wasilla City budget documents available online.
Under Sarah Palin's administration, Wasilla cut funds that had previously paid for the medical exams and began charging victims or their health insurers the $500 to $1200 fees.
Although Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella wrote USA Today earlier this week that the GOP vice presidential nominee
"does not believe, nor has she ever believed, that rape victims should have to pay for an evidence-gathering test...To suggest otherwise is a deliberate misrepresentation of her commitment to supporting victims and bringing violent criminals to justice,"
Careful parsing there.
In May 2000, the Alaska legislature enacted a law that would provide rape victims with the tests, free of charge – along with testing for sexually transmitted disease and access to emergency contraception.
Palin, a mother of five children, has a pro-life voting record and has not indicated support for the morning-after pill. In November 2006, then gubernatorial candidate Sarah Palin declared that she would not support an abortion for her own daughter even if she had been raped.
She is a member of the anti-abortion group Feminists for Life. The organization has warned women against "blindly accepting" morning after pills as just another artificial contraceptive method. It claims Planned Parenthood and other proponents push the medication as a way to prevent pregnancy.
"Although these supporters call morning-after pills 'emergency contraception,' the term is a misnomer, as the pills actually act as an abortifacient in many cases by preventing the implantation of an already-fertilized human embryo," a 1999 Feminists for Life newsletter (PDF) stated.
View A Feminists For Life Advertisement Regarding Rape Victims (PDF)
How often have you heard the term "taxpayer-funded abortion" as a right-wing talking point? The fact is, one of the main goals of the right wing fundamentalist has been to oppose any government assistance for any program that might provide funding for abortions.
This forms the basis of George Bush's so-called Mexico City Policy--rescinded by Clinton and re-enacted by George Bush--forbidding any taxpayer money going to any program that funds pregancy termination, no matter what adverse consequences may result.
Is this the reason behind Sarah Palin's consistent refusal to fund rape investigation kits with taxpayer money is that they contain emergency contraception, which her religious fundamentalism views as tantamount to an abortion, and she, like George Bush, is a firm believer in the Mexico City policy?
HT: Daily Kos
See Also:
Palin attacked over rape-kit controversy
Alaska law forces taxpayers to fund 'emergency contraception'
Palin Had Direct Role In Charging Rape Victims For Exams
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