Wasilla Project: Rape Kit Controversy

From The Wasilla Project, this video is the first of a four-part series.

Media Matters’ Eric Boehlert also discusses how the rape kit controversy has not been de-bunked, contrary to what some in the mainstream media would have you believe.

In fact, Palin had a direct role in charging rape victims for exams.

Stay tuned…

 

Palin Misquotes Albright: Damns Most Women to Hell

Today at a rally in California, Sarah Palin managed yet another misquote of a famous source. This one came off of her Starbucks cup (otherwise she probably wouldn’t have known who Madeleine Albright was).

The statement came after Palin had recounted a “providential” moment she experienced on Saturday: “I’m reading on my Starbucks mocha cup, okay? The quote of the day… It was Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State [crowd boos] and UN ambassador. … Now she said it, I didn’t. She said, ‘There’s a place in Hell reserved for women who don’t support other women.'” (HuffPo)

But that’s not what Albright said. The actual quote is, “There’s a place in Hell reserved for women who don’t help other women.” So she was only one word off, and some might argue that ‘support’ isn’t too different from ‘help,’ right? Maybe, but do you really want to suggest to the women on the fence that you believe they should be damned to Hell if they don’t vote for you? And is she suggesting that women should vote solely based on her gender and not on the issues that are important to us? Someone should tell her that she’s pushing independent women toward Barack Obama.

Madeleine Albright responded:

“Though I am flattered that Governor Palin has chosen to cite me as a source of wisdom, what I said had nothing to do with politics. This is yet another example of McCain and Palin distorting the truth, and all the more reason to remember that this campaign is not about gender, it is about which candidate has an agenda that will improve the lives of all Americans, including women. The truth is, if you care about the status of women in our society and in our troubled economy, the best choice by far is Obama-Biden.” (HuffPo)

 

Women On Palin

Marianne Schnall has a great piece on the Huffington Post featuring several renowned women’s voices on Palin and the election. While I get frustrated by the fact that politicians and the media pretend to care about “what women want” during an election year, and then quickly dump us after we get them elected, I do appreciate hearing several women’s perspectives on important issues.

Despite what the media initially reported, women are not at all flocking to the McCain-Palin ticket just because Palin is a woman. In fact, quite the opposite is happening. Palin is driving women to speak up for what’s at stake. Several blogs have popped up featuring women against palin.

I know that some people genuinely like Sarah Palin, but is it enough to make them vote for her? As her ignorance on the issues becomes increasingly obvious, will women continue to flock to Obama or other third party candidates? Or will the fact that she performs so poorly make women feel sorry for her and rally behind her? I must admit, that after the Couric interview I have begun to feel bad for the position Palin finds herself in. The McCain campaign’s treatment of her is incredibly sexist (Free Sarah Palin!), shielding her from reporters and only using her as a pretty face for photo ops. But will women recognize the sexism and rush to support Sarah Palin? I don’t think so. She hasn’t earned it.

 

Choice Words I’ve Been Waiting For

Yesterday in Florida Barack Obama briefly turned the topic to abortion. Though his record has been staunchly pro-choice, he has not spoken about abortion enough in this election. I wanted to hear him address Roe v. Wade specifically. He not only did that, he took it a step further and mentioned Supreme Court Justices.

‘Change means a president who will stand up for choice, who understands that five men on the Supreme Court don’t know better than women and their families and their doctors about what’s best for their health,’ he said. ‘That’s why I fought so hard in Illinois and Washington to stop laws that overturn Roe v Wade. That’s why I am committed to appointing judges who understand how law operates in our daily lives, judges who will uphold the values at the core of our constitution. That’s why I will never back down from defending a woman’s right to choose.’ (The Hotline)

For more about Obama and abortion check out On the Issues.

 

More Lies: The Snowball Effect

Watch as the ladies of The View press John McCain on issues the mainstream press has ignored.

More clips here. They call him out on abortion and the separation of church and state. He can’t come up with anything that will satisfy them.

Cheers to the women of The View! For doing the job that no one in the mainstream media has done. Calling out the lies, following-up, insisting on clear answers, and telling it like it is.

 

McCain-Palin: Extreme & Dangerous

Most Americans are pro-choice and even more support abortion rights in the case of rape or incest.

Watch this video and join the campaign to meet the real McCain/Palin, though their extreme anti-choice stances aren’t getting much play in the media. Is it any wonder, Palin is more popular among men than women?

Do we really want a President and a Vice President who are so out of touch with what the majority of Americans believe? Again?

 

Palin Against Abortion Even if Daughter were Raped

It’s a horrible hypothetical, especially considering Palin’s daughter was 14-years-old when she said this, and Alaska’s rape rate was more than twice the national average.

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.

Granting exceptions only if the mother’s life was in danger, Palin said that when it came to her daughter, “I would choose life.” (HuffPo)

Her position is even more extreme than John McCain’s. Both of them appear to be clueless when it comes to contraception and the role of education in preventing unplanned pregnancies.

While Palin’s positions have drawn the ire and concern of the pro-choice and progressive community, they are largely — save abortions in the case of rape — in line with John McCain’s own stances. The Senator is against federal funding of birth control and sex education. He has called for the overturning of Roe v. Wade and received a zero rating from NARAL. Once, aboard the Straight Talk Express, McCain was asked if he supported the use of contraception or President Bush’s abstinence-only education program to stem the spreading of AIDS.

“After a long pause, he said, ‘I think I support the president’s policy.’ Does he believe that contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV? After another long pause, he replied, “You’ve stumped me.“

We cannot afford continued attacks on our reproductive freedoms and assistance to rape survivors. Abstinance-only education does not work to prevent pregnancies and STDs. If you don’t want women to end their pregnancies through abortion, you should support educating them at how to prevent them in the first place. These policies are obviously not about women’s health; they’re about controlling women’s bodies and the decisions we make regarding our lives.

Read more here and here.

 

Sarah Palin is Bad for Women

From NOW:

Not Every Woman Supports Women’s Rights

August 29, 2008

Statement of NOW PAC Chair Kim Gandy on the Selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s Vice Presidential Pick

Sen. John McCain’s choice of Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate is a cynical effort to appeal to disappointed Hillary Clinton voters and get them to vote, ultimately, against their own self-interest.

Gov. Palin may be the second woman vice-presidential candidate on a major party ticket, but she is not the right woman. Sadly, she is a woman who opposes women’s rights, just like John McCain.

The fact that Palin is a mother of five who has a 4-month-old baby, a woman who is juggling work and family responsibilities, will speak to many women. But will Palin speak FOR women? Based on her record and her stated positions, the answer is clearly No.

In a gubernatorial debate, Palin stated emphatically that her opposition to abortion was so great, so total, that even if her teenage daughter was impregnated by a rapist, she would “choose life” — meaning apparently that she would not permit her daughter to have an abortion.

Palin also had to withdraw her appointment of a top public safety commissioner who had been reprimanded for sexual harassment, although Palin had been warned about his background through letters by the sexual harassment complainant.

What McCain does not understand is that women supported Hillary Clinton not just because she was a woman, but because she was a champion on their issues. They will surely not find Sarah Palin to be an advocate for women.

Sen. Joe Biden is the VP candidate who appeals to women, with his authorship and championing of landmark domestic violence legislation, support for pay equity, and advocacy for women around the world.

Finally, as the chair of NOW’s Political Action Committee, I am frequently asked whether NOW supports women candidates just because they are women. This gives me an opportunity to once again answer that question with an emphatic ‘No.’ We recognize the importance of having women’s rights supporters at every level but, like Sarah Palin, not every woman supports women’s rights.

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Protect Women’s Health

(From the ACLU)

On August 21, 2008, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released proposed regulations that could seriously undermine access to basic reproductive health services, including birth control and abortion.

The rule leaves open the possibility that — based on religious beliefs — institutions and individuals can deny women access to birth control. It also permits individuals to refuse to provide information and counseling about basic heath care services.  And it expands existing laws by permitting a wider range of health care professionals to refuse to provide even referrals for abortions.

The public comment period on these insidious regulations is open until September 20. Help generate a massive outcry. Submit your public comments to HHS by using the link above.

Let’s work together to keep individuals’ ideology separate from our health care.

Protect women’s health!  Sign the petition and pass it along today.

 

Docs Can’t Discriminate Against Same-Sex Couples…

…but Bush wants them to be able to discriminate against women and girls.

The CA Supreme Court just ruled that doctors cannot deny medical care to same-sex couples based on religious beliefs. This is great news in a series of good news lately in California.

The unanimous decision came in the case of an Oceanside lesbian couple who are suing two doctors at a North County clinic. They claim the doctors would not perform a certain artificial insemination procedure because their strong Christian beliefs prevented them from impregnating a lesbian couple.

Hopefully, this decision will help defeat Proposition 8 on November’s ballot, the movement to deny marriage rights to same-sex couples.

The result of this case supports the argument that discrimination has no place in the doctor’s office. Clearly. Yet the Bush administration is currently trying to allow medical professionals to cite religious beliefs when denying reproductive rights, including emergency contraception and abortion services, to women and girls. They even propose to redefine abortion to include contraception. Many members of Congress have spoken out against this attack, yet the battle rages on under the radar of most mainstream media.

Where do we draw the line? If medical professionals are allowed to choose whom they want to treat, what is to stop them from refusing treatment to an entire race, or members of a religion they do not agree with? The government has no place encouraging such discrimination.

Hooray for California’s Supreme Court! Let’s keep fighting to assure that doctors can’t discriminate against women seeking reproductive health services as well.