Planned Parenthood Ad Blasts Palin For Rape-Kit Policies
Planned Parenthood is going up with an absolutely brutal new ad hammering the policy of Wasilla, Alaska of charging rape victims for gathering evidence when Palin was mayor:
"Under Mayor Sarah Palin, women like Gretchen were forced to pay up to $1,200 for the emergency exams used to prosecute their attackers," the announcer says, after a heartbreaking testimonial from a woman talking about her own experience of being raped. "In the Senate, John McCain voted against legislation to protect women from these same heartless policies."
The ad will run in Missouri, Wisconsin, and the Northern Virginia media market.
(Via First Read)
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Yes, well, according to Slate, this is a myth.
Wasilla had hospitals first bill the victim's insurance company, not the victim. See the difference?
I don't, frankly. The hospital conducts the examination, and should bill Wasilla, because it's Wasilla that is seeking the evidence, not the victim, and not the victim's insurance company.
Can't wait to see those bastards of the McCain campaign try and dance their way out of this travesty.
October 1, 2008 10:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
What if the victim is uninsured?
October 1, 2008 10:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Too bad for the victim. Life's a bitch, ya know?
October 1, 2008 10:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
And also let them explain why the Alaska Legislature felt compelled to pass a law aimed squarely at Wasilla to put an end to this practice.
October 1, 2008 10:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Do you know the difference between a pig who tacitly supports date rape and Gov. Palin? Nothing, not even the lipstick.
Life is not the only thing that's a bitch in this one, if you get me. I think you do.
October 1, 2008 11:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
"Shoulda thought of that before you went and wore that revealing dress" is probably what they tell them when they hand over the bill.
October 1, 2008 11:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
The Italian equivalent of the US Supreme Court recently reversed a long standing decision that they would not consider the charge of rape if the victim (woman, not the man) was wearing tight fitting jeans at the time the alleged rape took place.
October 1, 2008 1:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
I read a piece from the Frontiersman that suggested that it was the reverse: women were billed directly but encouraged (?) to pass the bill on to their own insurance companies.
Going now to find the reference.
In the meantime, I say it is about time PP got off the couch and did something.
October 1, 2008 11:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Here is the relevant line from the Frontiersman:
"“In the past we’ve charged the cost of exams to the victims’ insurance company when possible,” Fannon says in the 2000 article. “I just don’t want to see any more burden put on the taxpayer.”
That says, 'we milk the victim for information about her insurance coverage and bill the insurer if she has one. If not, tough luck for her.'
So, I think the Slate piece is inaccurate or hedging so as to create a certain impression, shall we say. Centrist pablum from them, no?
October 1, 2008 11:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
The hell you say!!!
Total bullshit. 'scuse my language.
(The Slate piece is b.s., of course, not your comment....)
October 1, 2008 11:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think Slate aspires to be the "fair and balanced" medium of the center, which means all posturing in the direction of reason and reasonableness is fundamentally sympathetic to power interests, which remain those of the GOP.
October 1, 2008 11:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
off the couch? what are you talking about? learn first, then post. makes one look less silly.
October 1, 2008 3:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I saw the Slate "debunking"...and I was like, so what? So, it's better that the state bill's the victim's insurance? That's ridiculous...they're still making the victim responsible for the cost.
October 1, 2008 11:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, well, according to Slate, this is a myth.
Yet more evidence that Slate is the neocon s***-hole it is.
Can't wait to see those bastards of the McCain campaign try and dance their way out of this travesty.
Hey, Slate's danced around Saletan's openly racist "blacks = stupid" series, so why not?
October 1, 2008 11:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Damn.
October 1, 2008 10:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Palin doesn't know what "emergency contraception" is. In her interview with Couric last night, she said that she opposed it because she believes life begins at conception. Well, EC *prevents* conception from happening; it's essentially a huge dose of birth control pills. EC is not the abortion pill. If you are already pregnant, EC *will not* help you!
How can this woman be so stupid?? And Couric never called her on it. Maybe Couric doesn't know the difference either!
October 1, 2008 11:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Many pro-lifers do not distinguish between the pill and something like RU-486. They believe that life begins at conception, even if the fertilized egg has not attached to the wall of the uterus. As such, many hardliners believe that the standard birth control pill is an abortifacient.
What bothered me about her answer, is that she never answered the question. I could give a crap whether or not SHE would take the morning after pill....I'm concerned with whether or not she would allow someone else to.
October 1, 2008 11:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry. To clarify after re-reading your post....there is a chance that an egg can still be fertilized if someone is on the pill; the pill just keeps the egg from attaching to the wall of the uterus.
October 1, 2008 11:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
you got there before I did (in explaining the "basis" for opposition by anti-abortion folks -- and you did a good job).
But your point about her never answering the question is even more important -- she skirted around saying things like "I would counsel them to choose life," and never talked about her stand on the legality of abortion.
I think we need to start calling her view "forced pregnancy" rather than anti-abortion. Because that's what it is "my friends." IMO, forced pregnancy is just another type of rape.
p.s. I would counsel them to choose life also because no matter how awful these victims feel, suicide is a really bad idea. (why is it that "life" to the antiabortion forces always means the fertilized egg and never the woman carrying it?)
October 1, 2008 11:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Forced chilbirth would be more accurate, but that IS a good idea.
October 1, 2008 1:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
They take the same position on IUD's.
PEACE
October 1, 2008 12:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
why does gwen iffil hate america?
October 1, 2008 10:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'd say this comes just in time for their to be a question about it in the debate tomorrow.
Pufferfish
October 1, 2008 11:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder where Planned Parenthood got all that money....
Hmmmmm.... remember all those donations in Dame Simpleton's name?
October 1, 2008 10:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent ad and it goes to the core of what Palin represents for her Joe Six pack mentality!
October 1, 2008 10:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
She's so screwed here. Do municipal governments charge victims for getting evidence in any other crime?
October 1, 2008 10:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'd like that question answered, as well as the following: are there any other municipal governments anywhere that follow this practice?
There aren't in Alaska. What about the rest of the country?
October 1, 2008 10:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
North Carolina
October 1, 2008 11:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well, that's depressing.
This is probably going to generate a flurry of negative reaction, but I read a description of Alaska as being the northernmost state of the Deep South. Perhaps that wasn't very far off.
October 1, 2008 11:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's collection of crime evidence.
Is anyone charged for that in other crimes? NO, the police collect evidence. End of story!
October 1, 2008 11:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
Did Wasilla charge men accused of rape for DNA swabbing and testing in order to exclude them from charges?
Doubt it.
PEACE
October 1, 2008 12:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
What a good Rovian ad we could put together on Palin's Wasilla.
--The meth capital of Alaska.
--She fought to keep bars open until 5 a.m.
--The town made rape victims pay for rape kits themselves.
Imagine these factoids combined with jarring images and spooky narration, just in time for Halloween.
I'm sure there's more. Please add on!
October 1, 2008 10:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Brilliant. Maybe get some footage of a filthy, disorganized residence with frozen pipes, a meth lab, remnants of a previous pot-growing operation and signs that children live there (akin to the one described in the HuffPo article on 9/4 about Wasilla as the meth capital of Alaska).
October 1, 2008 11:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
Saw an article about what a godforsaken place Wasilla is -- basically just a strip mall. It does have some nice lake, though -- sad to say, they're dead. The state re-stocks them every year with fish and the fish just go ahead and die. So all of Palin's stuff about loving the beauty of Alaska? And the pics with her fishing in a lake? Some steward of God's earth!
October 1, 2008 1:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
my understanding (from my good friend who used to live there) is that most alaskan cities are filthy shithole cesspools. guess that's why most alaskans support oil drilling in wildlife refuges - if the humans live in filth, why ought the wildlife have it any better?
October 1, 2008 1:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rapes were high there too as I understand it.
October 1, 2008 11:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
except, i'm all for keeping bars open til 5am.
actually, i don't think the gov't has a compelling interest in limiting the sale of intoxicants to adults period.
but obviously that sorta factoid about palin might take some of the bloom of the rose for the bible thumpers in the midwest who otherwise imagine her to be the bee's knees.
October 1, 2008 1:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Replying so late that no one will ever see this, but there was a public-safety issue involved. The Wasilla police chief wanted bars there to have the same closing time as surrounding towns (2 a.m., I believe) to put an end to the stream of drunks who hit the road and headed for Wasilla when closing time hit in the other towns each night.
So, more ammo for the ad: Sarah Palin supports drunk driving!
October 1, 2008 9:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Re: Slate. Whether the insurance company or victim was billed is irrelevant. The fact is that the policy is ridiculous, inhumane, and pre-medieval.
Even if the victim does have insurance (which is a big if), most insurance companies have some sort of deductible. The crappy ones make you pay up to $1000 or more before they will pay anything.
Palin also opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest.
October 1, 2008 10:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
Folks,
On top of all this, Sarah Palin is against letting a teenager girl, who was impregnated by a rapist, or through incest, get an abortion.
She said so, again, just yesterday, to Katie Couric.
One quick reminder. If you plan and sending a final donation to Senator Obama, do so as soon as possible. The earlier that they receive the last month donations, the better they will be able to figure out how much to spend on Commercials during the final days of the campaign.
Contribution received during the next week will be a huge help to them down the stretch. Remind all your contacts of this.
October 1, 2008 10:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
edit feature please. I am tired of this Flintstones software.
Edit: If you plan on sending.
October 1, 2008 10:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Good point. I usually donate towards the end of the month. I'll kick in a little earlier this time around.
October 1, 2008 11:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh yes. I have been raped, am beside myslef emotionally and possibly injured vaginally and the creep stole my purse to boot. Sorry I don't have my insurance card or my VISA......
Thank you our Sarah!
October 1, 2008 10:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
Cue Joe Lieberman saying "Well, in Connecticut, another hospital is just a short cab ride away". That was his defense for disagreeing with a state bill that would have ensured that all hospitals, Catholic and otherwise, be required to dispense emergency contraception.
Can you see why I loathe Joe Lieberman?
October 1, 2008 11:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
I stopped my (admittedly small) donations to PP when they endorsed Lieberman. I am glad PP is running this ad but I think they are remarkably ineffectual at national politics. For a special-interest group, they seem not to know how to advocate for that interest. They're much better and often superb at the level of the local clinic of course.
October 1, 2008 11:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
Another thought is why in the hell should a public policy involve private insurnace policies for a rape victim? This is so anti-justice that is sickening to think about going thru an insurance company as a victim of a rape. Can you imagine being denied here for a pre-existing condition?
October 1, 2008 10:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Good - about time too. I've been flabbergasted by the lack of attention this has gotten since it broke a few weeks ago. It's so outrageous and shocking it doesn't seem possible the media haven't jumped on it. Oh right, forgot where I live...
Imagine if a Democratic mayor running for the White House had presided over this policy. Okay? Now - imagine a BLACK Democratic mayor. Ya git me? Tell me the the media would have ignored it the way they have.
October 1, 2008 11:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
Can anyone explain why the buy would be running in those markets? Northern Virginia I would guess is so people in washington see it. Missouri I assume because the debate is being held there. But Wisconsin? Is Ifill from there or something? Why Wisc?
October 1, 2008 11:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
A few post-convention polls had McCain getting close here, and the state's been close the past few cycles (closest state on either side, percentage-wise, in 2004).
October 1, 2008 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, but there are a bunch of states that are close, so why pick Wisc? You can guess why MO and VA are a "two-fer" in that I think (without checking) both states are somewhat competative, plus it achieves some other goal (get the message into the Washington chattering class and into the minds of people who will be in the audience tomorrow night) but what is the additional benefit to running it in Wisc?
October 1, 2008 11:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
I bet this will help with the Joe Sixpacks who have daughters and no insurance.
Low info voters will pay attention.
October 1, 2008 11:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
How would anybody in his or her right mind ever think rape victims (or their insurance, whatever) should pay for the kits?
Anybody got an answer. I mean, how?
In some twisted, holier-than-thou way, does a part of Palin blame women for rape? Who knows, I wouldn't put anything past her at this point.
October 1, 2008 11:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
The person who is for this is also against abortion in cases of rape and incest.
I read somewhere that the likely reason Mayor Palin didn't want tax dollars going toward the rape kits is because victims would be provided a drug such as RU-486.
October 1, 2008 11:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
willfull ignorance on her part. a rape kit would include emergency contraception, which religious crazies think is an abortifacient, but they're just wrong about that and don't know what they're talking about. better to make recently raped women pay $1200 for the basic administration of justice than to help any of them prevent impregnation by the man who just raped them, right? jeeezusss, Sarah Palin is a sick person.
October 1, 2008 3:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin will just be all smiles when asked about this and the press will just eat it up.
Media & Public Response - "Rape kit, shmape kit - that's just Sarah being Sarah! Hey, did you see her hair today? It's gorgeous!"
October 1, 2008 11:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Good point - knowing Palin's religious background, she probably does blame victims for being victims, and feels they should pay for putting themselves in that position.
She blames victims when she's not studying up man and dinosaur living together 4,000 years ago.
October 1, 2008 11:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
In Sarah's defense, she really needed that money for an ice rink.
October 1, 2008 11:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
And doesn't Alaska's sexual assault rates perennially rank among the top in the country?
Just when you thought this couldn't be any more appalling...
October 1, 2008 11:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Even more ridiculous is that this could dissuade women from reporting rapes - I mean nothing will be done unless you shell out the $1200, and if you can't afford it well there will be no physical evidence to possibly go after the attacker with in court.
It's insanity. And add to that Alaska is the sexual assault capital of America.
October 1, 2008 11:31 AM | Reply | Permalink
Of which Wasilla ranks very high - even for Alaska.
October 1, 2008 11:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
The underbelly of this policy is racism. A lot of the rape victims in Alaska are native women.
October 1, 2008 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nice to see the Obama campaign maying attention to MO again.
October 1, 2008 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
this is pp paying attention to MO, not obama.
October 1, 2008 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
If I lived in Wassila and doing my best to help my kids pay for college and my daughter got raped, that $1,200 would likely mean that my son or daughter would have to drop out of college; at least for one semester, as there wouldn't be enough money to go around.
Life begins at conception and ends at birth. Oh yeah, and man roamed the earth with dinosaurs.
Now Palin is bragging about what a good thing it is regarding how uneducated she is? Joe six-pack, is that the kind of role model I want my kids looking up too?
The Palin strategy is to turn being an uneducated, disinterested, mean-girl into a positive.
I'm still waiting for a past female lover of hers to crop up for some publicity in the press.
I'm also going to look closely to see if she "goes commando" to the debate.
October 1, 2008 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
The McCain reference is apparently for his NAY vote [103rd Congress - 2nd session] on the
http://tinyurl.com/6o2s7b
Vote Summary
Question: On the Conference Report (Conference report on H.R. 3355 )
Vote Number: 295
Vote Date: August 25, 1994, 10:24 PM
Vote Result: Conference Report Agreed to
Measure Number: H.R. 3355
Measure Title: A bill to amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to allow grants to increase police presence, to expand and improve cooperative efforts between law enforcement agencies and members of the community to address crime and disorder problems, and otherwise to enhance public safety.
Which included: VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT: $1.62 BILLION
[Senator Hatch is a cosponsor. ]
The $820 billion Law Enforcement and Prosecution Grant Program to fight violence a gainst women assures that at least $410 million will go to police and prosecutors to help catch and convict abusers...
Some $200 million will pay for rape prevention education, to teach boys and girls that just because he spends $10 on a date he is not entitled to sex.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d103:HR03355:@@@X
October 1, 2008 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink