New ad brings up 'rape kit' charge

Posted: Wednesday, October 01, 2008 10:00 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under: Democrats, Ads, Sarah Palin

From NBC's Mark Murray
Defenders of Wildlife isn't the only Democratic-leaning interest group that's airing a TV ad targeting Palin.

Planned Parenthood tells First Read it will begin running a new ad on Thursday that brings up the fact that Wasilla, while Palin was mayor there, charged rape victims or their insurers for emergency-room rape kits.

The ad -- which Planned Parenthood says will run in the markets of St. Louis (MO), Madison (WI), and DC/Northern Virginia (VA) -- begins with a testimonial from a rape victim. "I just didn’t think it would happen to me," she says. "I was drugged and raped." Then an announcer states, "Under Mayor Sarah Palin, women like Gretchen were forced to pay up to $1,200 for the emergency exams used to prosecute their attackers," adding: "In the Senate, John McCain voted against legislation to protect women from these same heartless policies."

According to our friends over at Politifact, while Wasilla had such a rape kit policy while Palin was mayor, there is no evidence that she explicitly endorsed it. "Wasilla clearly had the policy. Bloggers have portrayed it as a heartless rule seeking money from rape victims, but they have neglected to mention that the policy seems to have been aimed more at getting money from insurance companies than from victims. We can’t find that Palin ever commented on the policy, pro or con. But as mayor, she indirectly endorsed it by approving city budgets that relied on the revenue."

The script:
Gretchen: I just didn’t think it would happen to me. I was drugged and raped.
Announcer: Under Mayor Sarah Palin, women like Gretchen were forced to pay up to $1,200 for the emergency exams used to prosecute their attackers.
In the Senate, John McCain voted against legislation to protect women from these same heartless policies.
Gretchen: That is something to me that’s unthinkable. It scares me to death.
VO: Planned Parenthood Action Fund is responsible for the content of this advertising and urges you to get the facts.

*** UPDATE *** RNC spokesman Danny Diaz responds to the ad: “Planned Parenthood’s ad is a vicious smear against Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin. This ad is patently false and represents the worst kind of politics. What Barack Obama and his most extreme allies fail to understand is that Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin have demonstrated strong leadership on the critical issues confronting the nation, which is what will resonate with the majority of Americans on Election Day.”

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Comments

Dragging insurance companies into Rape Investigations is a privacy matter.

In this theoretical situation, I have insurance, I get raped, I file charges, an exam is performed, my insurance is billed, 5 years later my husband is killed, I lose my insurance and in trying to obtain insurance it is discovered I have a pre-existing mental condition from the rape (not the grief, that's not in my file). Now I am a victim twice.

Come on people. Your insurance isn't charged for the police fingerprinting kit when your house is robbed. This is the cost of an investigation and should be part of the police budget.

What should be a greater concern is why Rape and Incest are per capita HIGHER in the great state of Alaska. Could it be a culture of taking from the land or neighbor whatever it is you think you're entitled to? Just asking a question.

Could also be the culture of taking mine for me that has resulted in such a high propensity for government corruption. I don't perceive Ms. Palin to be immune from this behavior, with all that I have now read and seen.

Clara Kansas City, MO (Sent Wednesday, October 01, 2008 10:39 AM)

I definately do no beleive in abortion as a means of birth control..absolutely not, that is totally wrong in my book.
I do draw the line however that being made to have a baby when caused by rape or incest....that is not for any government to decide.
The latter is a personal choice of the victim..nobody
or least of all a law prohibiting an abortion in this case can be justified!!

carol panama city fl (Sent Wednesday, October 01, 2008 10:39 AM)

Check the Wasilla budget and these kits were paid for prior to Palin taking office.

The long-time Wasilla Police Chief fired by Palin has shown America that these were covered prior to Palin taking office.

At the very least, Palin's hired a police chief who was clearly incompetent.

Dan, WI (Sent Wednesday, October 01, 2008 10:39 AM)

New Evidence: Palin Had Direct Role In Charging Rape Victims For Exams

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-alperinsheriff/sarah-palin-instituted-ra_b_125833.html

nuanced (Sent Wednesday, October 01, 2008 10:40 AM)

"Does anybody complain that the guy hit by a car gets charged (or his insurance does) for the care he receives?"

My understanding is a rape kit is primarily for the purpose of finding the suspect and prosecuting them. I don't think a guy hit by a car is anything like a woman being examined for evidence.

LS (Sent Wednesday, October 01, 2008 10:41 AM)

Do we really want an American Taliban? Maybe we will end up calling it the Palinban.

Will B. Dunn (Sent Wednesday, October 01, 2008 10:43 AM)

McCain made a huge mistake by going as negative as he did in his own adds as well as his wink wink attitude concerning 527s. Just wait until Vote Vets starts illuminating his record concerning the veterans that he will "take care of"

Ryan, Greenville NC (Sent Wednesday, October 01, 2008 10:49 AM)

Parenthood...

Here is a young man that wants to be a parent to the child that he has conceived with Palin's daughter:

Father of Bristol Palin's baby speaks
http://www.blackbottom.com/watch.php?v=WdBJd9b9i8A

Eloise, Clearwater, FL (Sent Wednesday, October 01, 2008 10:49 AM)

Please stop bashing Sarah Palin! You just lack the intellectual capacity to understand her - do you realize that she reads EVERY newspaper and magazine? All of them! She is very deep and it is only your own shallowness and lack of education which forces her to try to communicate on your level. Did you know that she went to 5 different colleges? Ha! How many did Obama or Biden attend? So there, now ya know!

D Iowan, Marion, IA (Sent Wednesday, October 01, 2008 10:50 AM)

Come on. The only candidate with executive experience and it is argued she "did not endorse it. Well the "I do not blink" mayor could of overturned the rule.

What a sad commentary.

Terry, Great Plains (Sent Wednesday, October 01, 2008 10:52 AM)

There are broader implications to this. Does anyone not think about the privacy aspect of this? Why would a woman who has been raped want to expose this to her insurance company. They would have a way to hold back from treatments she might need in the future in response to the rape. Do we remember pre-existing conditions and the hell insurance give us if we move our insurance?

Privacy Matters (Sent Wednesday, October 01, 2008 10:52 AM)

Charging victims for rape kits is reprehensible, and it happened on Palin's watch. This reveals much about her warped ideology.

Wanting an individual's choices about her own body to remain unaffected by the infantile religious beliefs of republican grandstanders is not "extreme left." What anyone does with his or her own body is his or her concern--no one else's.

Since the Nixon era, republicans and their mouthpieces have deliberately poisoned this country's political discourse by redefining centrist stances--such as the right to choose--as "extreme left," while framing insane hard-right Christian nonsense as "centrist." It's repulsive.

Republicans likely have no intention to act on these wedge issues, because if, for example, Roe v Wade was overturned or same-sex marriages were Constitutionally banned, then they'd have nothing with which to rally the Christian rubes.

Fundamentalist Christians: make your own choices about your own lives, but keep your mouths shut about everyone else's decisions. Your primitive world view doesn't mean anything to the sensible.

Rational Voter (Sent Wednesday, October 01, 2008 10:54 AM)

McPalin is against universal health care and not everyone has health insurance so the argument about insurance is a smoke screen. Why don’t we know when the policy was enacted and by whom? Come on reporters get us the facts!

L Wood, Framingham MA (Sent Wednesday, October 01, 2008 10:54 AM)

Have any of you actually looked into planned parenthood? Yes they provide abortions. But they also provide healthcare, prenatal care, family counseling, education on family planning and birth control to those who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford these things. Do your research before you speak so you actually know what your talking about.

And no, I don't necessarily like this ad but they had every right to make it, us living in a democracy and all. Or have we had Bush/Cheney so long that most of you have forgotten that? You may not like it or agree with it, but they have the right to say it.

jcraig NY (Sent Wednesday, October 01, 2008 10:56 AM)

To those who think this is like charging insurance for injuries relating to a traffic accident:

There is no medical treatment involved in a rape kit. All a rape kit is for is evidence collection. Think fingernail scraping, swabs, etc.

So, a better example is this: If someone broke into your car, should the police bill your car insurance for the costs of dusting for prints? If someone set your house on fire, should they charge your home owner's insurance for the costs to investigate arson? No, because we already pay taxes to cover those costs. Having rape kits at hospitals so that they can do timely evidence collection is something that protects the common good, and rape victims should NOT be charged for this.

Another area getting ignored is this. If the insurance did NOT pay, the rape victim would be billed. Also, what about those without health insurance? I understand that the rapist should be covering these charges, but in absence of that, the charges should not be floated to the victim. It is beyond sickening and insulting.

C. Chamberlain, SC (Sent Wednesday, October 01, 2008 10:58 AM)

You can't bill the insurance companies for an uninsured rape victim, so I guess it's kind of a "big whoop" for the women who get raped and are forced to pay for the experience.

The real point here is that McCain had a chance to do something about this in the Senate but he didn't care enough – just like he didn't/doesn't care about discriminatory pay policies. Can't fix that by putting a token on your ticket.

Joe Don, Topeka, KS (Sent Wednesday, October 01, 2008 11:00 AM)

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