Sarah Palin and Her Outrageous Rape Kit Policy
Mountains of controversy are swirling around Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's strange policy of forcing rape victims to pay for their own rape kits while she was mayor of the now-infamous town of Wasilla.
The most interesting take I've found is posted by Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore who relates the following:
I sat with a rape victim during the "harvesting of evidence". Mascara smeared eyes stared blankly out from a cave of shame. "We've got swimmers," announced the forensic tech in the lab next door. My friend didn't look surprised. In her 60's, she was still asked if she felt the need for emergency contraception. Surviving the process would have only been compounded and made worse with an itemized bill; victimized twice courtesy of Sarah Palin and the city of Wasilla.
Much can be learned about the Palin Administration's family values from reviewing their spending priorities. Former Chief of Police Irl Stambaugh included forensic rape kits (up to $1,200 per kit) in his budget requests. He was fired by Palin in 1997. In her termination letter, Palin wrote, "...I do not feel I have your full support in my efforts to govern the city of Wasilla. Therefore I intend to terminate your employment... " Staumbaugh headed the police department since it was created in 1993. Before that, he served 22 years with the Anchorage Police Department rising to the rank of captain. Sarah Palin hired Charlie Fannon as the new Wasilla Chief of Police and said it was one of her best decisions as mayor. Fannon eliminated the forensic rape kits from the budget. Though the number of rapes weren't reported, Fannon claimed it would save Wasilla taxpayers $5,000 to $14,000 a year.
Palin supporters ought to be taking a much closer look at her record on these types of issues (charging rape victims for evidentiary examinations so their attackers can be brought to trial) than whether she can juggle five children and the vice presidency. This, more than anything, should push women, pro-life and pro-choice, away from the McCain-Palin ticket. It's one thing to oppose abortion on moral grounds. It's quite another to charge crime victims for their own forensic examinations. Such a policy is nothing short of outrageous.
Tags: Alaska | presidential election 2008 | crime | police | Sarah Palin
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Reader Comments
Embarrassing
I have always considered myself a Republican, but as I grow older and wiser(I'm 26) I find myself leaning more and more moderate. I found this article doing research for a paper in college about the fall of the GOP. Just the few comments I read were pretty embarrassing. If you're going to defend Sarah Palin, could you please take the time to learn how to spell her name? It just seems that more and more all I'm seeing is uneducated rednecks supporting Republicans and it is embarrassing.
sarah palen, smart enough
I think Sarah Palen is an Anmerican that cares about our country and the American people. She is probably as smart as any of the other Presidents have been, although some of them have not been too bright, as we can see by what is happening now, and has happened in the past to our country under their care. She may need help as all other Presidents have, and also I think she would listen to the voice of the people, which most of them have not been doing, and thats' one reason why the American people are very angry, and they should be. When we have been getting "Taxation" without "Representation" from our "Government"; for many years, it's time for real change, and time for the people to open their eyes and take a good look at whats been going on. Our Constitution and Sovereignty are at stake, and we must stand up, and let our voices be heard.
Sarah Palin
All of you GD repulicans are just angry because there is an AFRICAN AMERICAN IN THE WHITE HOUSE
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