Palin on abortion...

[madmax]

The second excerpt listed here states she is pro-contraception? Do the fundies know this? Is she? This woman is an riddle wrapped in an enigma.

Opposition Papers here: http://www.kissmybigbluebutt.com/palin_2006<1>.pdf

Anchorage Daily News Editorial: Palin Has “Extreme Anti-Abortion Views.” The Anchorage Daily
News wrote in an editorial, “Alaskans will also have to decide whether her extreme anti-abortion views
and other socially conservative positions square with Alaska's generally libertarian approach to those
issues.”
Palin Moderating Her Abortion Stance? The Anchorage Daily News wrote, “Palin said last month that
no woman should have to choose between her career, education and her child.”
(Alaska), 8/6/06]
Palin Called Herself as “Pro-Life As Any Candidate Can Be” But Supports Contraception. “In
2002, when she was running for lieutenant governor, Palin sent an e-mail to the anti-abortion Alaska
Right to Life Board saying she was as ‘pro-life as any candidate can be’ and has ‘adamantly supported our
cause since I first understood, as a child, the atrocity of abortion.’ Palin said last month that no woman
should have to choose between her career, education and her child. She is pro-contraception and said
she’s a member of a pro-woman but anti-abortion group called Feminists for Life. ‘I believe in the
strength and the power of women, and the potential of every human life,’ she said.”
(Alaska), 8/6/06]
Palin is a Member of Feminists for Life, A Group That Says Abortion Increases the Risk of
Miscarriage, Cancer, and Compares Abortion to the Tuskegee Trials. According to the Anchorage
Daily News, Palin “said she's a member of a pro-woman but anti-abortion group called Feminists for
Life.” Feminists for Life writes on its website, “If you choose to have an abortion, even if it's at an early
stage of pregnancy, the risks associated with this choice include bleeding, injury to the bowel, injury to
the urinary tract, infection, and possible problems with having children in the future. Obviously, the
further along in the pregnancy you are, the higher your chances are to have these types of problems.” The
site also says, “recently there have been reports that link breast cancer with abortion. Since abortion has
been legal for over 20 years, and sometimes it takes 20 to 30 years for a cancer to develop, this link is just
starting to surface. More research is needed, especially since so many women have abortions every year
coupled with the fact that so many women also die from breast cancer.” The site adds, “We are reminded
that in the not-so-distant past American citizens were "tricked" into participating in research experiments
being performed by doctors and other people in the health industry…The Tuskegee experiment is a grim
reminder that even though doctors and other people connected with the medical profession have been
granted a great deal of trust and privilege in our society, there have been times when that trust was
betrayed and innocent citizens were caused irreparable harm.” http://www.feministsforlife.org/resources/realrepr.htm]

[Lucinda]

1. Pro-life, only supports abortion if the mother is at risk, and is pro-contraceptives

And the FFL position is a little hard to figure out re: morning after pill. I didnt see anything against it, but there was discussion about how safe it was.

[madmax]

2. But hasn't it been posted that

she's against all abortion even in the case of rape or incest and also against contraceptives? I'm suffering from TMI - maybe I need a break. :hi:

[Lucinda]

3. Yep. But not supported. Here is FFL's statement:

http://www.feministsforlife.org/FAQ/index.htm
What is Feminists for Life's position on contraception?
Feminists for Life's mission is to address the unmet needs of women who are pregnant or parenting. Preconception issues including abstinence and contraception are outside of our mission. Some FFL members and supporters support the use of non-abortifacient contraception while others oppose contraception for a variety of reasons. FFL is concerned that certain forms of contraception have had adverse health effects on women.

Our membership enjoys a broad spectrum of opinion that reflects the diversity of opinions among the American public.




This is from her 2006 Gov election campaign coverage:
http://dwb.adn.com/news/politics/elections/governor06/story/8049298p-7942233c.html

ABORTION
...
In 2002, when she was running for lieutenant governor, Palin sent an e-mail to the anti-abortion Alaska Right to Life Board saying she was as "pro-life as any candidate can be" and has "adamantly supported our cause since I first understood, as a child, the atrocity of abortion."

Palin said last month that no woman should have to choose between her career, education and her child. She is pro-contraception and said she's a member of a pro-woman but anti-abortion group called Feminists for Life.

[kath]

4. FFL is NOT pro-contraceptives - they're very stealthy about it.

see: http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/03/20/anti_contraception/#


don't have link right now, but there is something on their website referring to "abortifacient methods of birth control" -- which means they are against emergency contraception, the pill, IUD, etc. See the Salon article for more

Also see DouglasCarpenter's journal, here at DU:
excerpt:
It also appears that Sarah Palin is a member of a misnamed group called Feminists for Life. FFL in fact engages in "cultural appropriation" of women's suffrage icons to promote a very woman-unfriendly agenda that--despite attempts to sound "not like those crazies in Operation Rescue"--would not only criminalise abortion but the IUD and hormonal birth control methods, and potentially everything outside the rhythm method (the term "abortifacient birth control" is a codephrase in the dominionist "pro-life" community for hormonal birth control--partly due to a unique urban legend claiming "the pill" and other hormonal birth control causes abortion and partly because of a unique definition of pregnancy beginning at conception rather than at implantation (the latter is what most mainstream OB/GYNs use) and thus making anything preventing implantation potentially "abortifacient").

snip:"One of the big things FFL promotes is deceptive "pregnancy counseling centers"--where pregnant teens are forced to essentially listen to an altar call on how "abortionists want to murder their children" whilst a pee-stick test clears--and if she tests "yes", she gets a hard-sell to keep the child or to check herself into a dominionist-run "halfway house for teenage moms" where she will ultimately be forced to sign her kid over. (Yes, there is an entire private adoption industry in the dominionist community--mostly focusing on adopting out the infants of poor teenage mothers who have been forced to give their kids up and who have been either scared into it or checked into such facilities by their parents.)

Ironically, FFL itself is rather a "stealth" organisation in and of itself--yes, even the dominionists admit this. Interestingly, despite their claims of being more "moderate" than most anti-abortion groups, very few real solutions are offered on how they intend to fund such things (which can be boiled down to "CHOOSE TO BREED").


http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Douglas%20Carpenter
(excerpt is 1/4 - 1/3 of the way down the page. Also be sure to read the "Sarah Palin: Dominionist Stalking Horse" entry, and do some extra reading on the Dominionists -- they are some SCAAAAAAARRRRY sumbitches.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3883263

[Lucinda]

5. The FFL link is supplemented by her 2006 campaign policy though

I haven't seen anything that counters that. And i've been looking. A LOT. LOL

The FFL website was the most tedious site i've been to in a while. So up front about some things and sooooooo vague about others. Maze-like too.

Thanks for the links!

[kath]

6. what does her 2006 campaign policy say about contraception?

I suspect that she's probably been every bit as weasel-ly on that topic as the FFL. These people are often all about STEALTH.

[Lucinda]

7. Pro-contraceptives. She doesn't mince any words about any of her positions as far as I have seen.

That may very well change now that shes on the national stage though. Remains to be seen...

From what I have seen the past few weeks, she has issues she's passionate about and pretty immovable about them. And at the same time she seems to be a stickler for the laws on the books when making decisions. The partner benefits veto comes to mind. She's very one man one woman = marriage, but wouldn't usurp the law on the books in the benefits case. Curious.

[kath]

8. Thanks. Do you have alink to those 2006 positions?

Where they get weasel-y is that they call many forms of birth control "abortifacients".

{on edit - here's another good article: http://broadsideonline.com/3-26-2007/opinion/untitled_002.htm

[Lucinda]

9. Here is one:

http://dwb.adn.com/news/politics/elections/governor06/story/8049298p-7942233c.html

There are other references to her positions during the 2006 election at the anchorage paper above, , but they seem to be having server weirdness and one of the other good links there wasn't loading for me...maybe a lot of traffic? It's a searchable site, interesting stuff in the archives.

Thanks for the broadside link! I'll check it out.