Women's Health: Yet Another Issue Sarah Palin is Out of Touch On

By Cecile Richards, Huffington Post. Posted October 2, 2008.

Over the last several weeks, it has become apparent that Sarah Palin is out of touch on a whole host of issues, ranging from the bailout and the economy to foreign policy to the Supreme Court. After this week's interview with Katie Couric, we can now add women's health to the list.

Her answers on reproductive health issues, such as criminalizing abortion, exceptions for rape and incest, and what exactly the morning-after pill is, were a rambling mix of contradictions and platitudes, much like her answers about Russia bordering Alaska, the bailout, health care, and the economy.

So, for the vice-presidential debate tonight, here's what I'd ask Sarah Palin to answer directly:

1. You said in your interview with Katie Couric that you are "all for contraception," but then you said you don't support the morning-after pill. Do you know that the morning-after pill IS contraception, it's simply a higher dose of hormonal birth control? Now that you know that, does it change how you feel about it being made available?

2. You said that abortion should be illegal even in the cases of rape or incest, but then you said no one should end up in jail for having an abortion. I assume when you say it should be illegal, that you mean it should be a crime - if you don't think anyone should go to jail, how would you enforce it?

3. You say that you believe there is an inherent right to privacy in the Constitution, yet you want to overturn Roe v. Wade, which is based on a right to privacy. How do you reconcile these two conflicting beliefs?

4. You say that you support abstinence-only policies, which have been proven over and over to be ineffective. Then you seem to contradict yourself, saying that you are "pro-contraception." What exactly are you for, comprehensive sex education, which includes teaching of abstinence as well as contraception and prevention; or "abstinence-only until marriage," which typically does not cover contraception. As vice president, would you like to continue President Bush's legacy in funneling millions of federal dollars to ineffective "abstinence-only" programs, or do you support comprehensive sex education programs that include abstinence and have proven to reduce the number of teen pregnancies?

5. Will you continue to cut funding for support of young mothers? After cutting funding by 20 percent for Covenant House Alaska, a place with the resources and assistance to help teen mothers gain the necessary skills to create a stable life, will you extend this to the rest of young, low-income mothers in the U.S.?

6. Considering all of these things, would you say that the women of America will have a champion in Sarah Palin as vice president?

We thought it couldn't get more anti-choice and more extreme for women and for health care than George Bush and John McCain. But let's face it -- with Sarah Palin, John McCain has outdone himself. Women voting for McCain-Palin is like chickens voting for Col. Sanders. That is not a risk we can afford to take.

Sign our letter today -- tell Sarah Palin that she is not your candidate.

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