Sarah Palin said what ?!?
| By Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign - Oct 2, 2008 4:44:21 PM PT |
| Also listed in: Courage Campaign Staff |

I know. I watched the debate too, so really- I could be talking about any number of things with that title. But in this case, I'm not even talking about anything from the debate.
I'm talking about Sarah Palin's Couric interview, where Couric asked, "If a 15-year-old is raped by her father, you believe it should be illegal for her to get an abortion. Why?"
Now, during tonight's debate, Palin noted with no shortage of dogmatic conviction in her voice the "dictators who hate America and hate what we stand for, with...our respect for women's rights..." But her response to Couric?
"I am pro-life. And I'm unapologetic about my position..."
I'm glad that America respects women's rights since Sarah Palin doesn't seem to; not even the rights of our children. She's not alone on that fringe, even in California. The assault on women is going to the ballot in November, and earlier today Rick Jacobs explained the connection and what's at stake:
Katie Couric, CBS News: "If a 15-year-old is raped by her father, you believe it should be illegal for her to get an abortion. Why?"
Governor Sarah Palin: "I am pro-life. And I'm unapologetic about my position..."
Unbelievable.
Sarah Palin is "unapologetic" about denying a 15-year-old girl the fundamental right to choose an abortion even if the girl has been raped by her own father.
It gets worse. In late 2007, the Alaska Supreme Court struck down a parental consent law as unconstitutional, ruling on a 3-2 vote that it infringed on a girl's rights to reproductive freedom. Palin called the decision "outrageous" and then appointed a conservative judge to the court, shifting the balance of power. That decision earned her praise from Alaska Right to Life, the state's leading pro-life group.
With such extreme views on the health and safety of our teens, it's crystal clear to us that Sarah Palin will strongly support Proposition 4, a California ballot measure that would mandate parental notification prior to termination of a minor's pregnancy.
But Sarah Palin's support for parental notification laws like Prop 4 is NOT crystal clear to Californians.
According to a recent poll released by the Public Policy Institute of California, Prop 4 is actually winning 47%-44% despite the defeat of two similar "parental notification" ballot measures in the last four years. Even more alarming, a SurveyUSA poll released just yesterday shows Prop 4 winning 52%-36%. Of course, Courage Campaign members are overwhelmingly against Prop 4, as your response to our survey last week strongly demonstrated.
That's why -- when Sarah Palin appears at a super-rally in Los Angeles County this weekend -- she'll see some "straight talk" from the Courage Campaign in seven-foot-tall letters. With your help, the following airplane banner brainstormed by Courage Campaign members will fly over the heads of Palin, 8,000 or her supporters, and millions of L.A. residents on Saturday:
SARAH PALIN, THANKS BUT NO THANKS: NO ON PROP 4!
Can you contribute $33 -- a dollar per day until the November 4 election -- to help us launch our month-long campaign to defeat Prop 4 with this airplane banner action in L.A. on Saturday?
http://www.couragecampaign.org/NoThanksSarah
On Tuesday, we asked you to submit banner ideas to "welcome" Sarah Palin to California, Courage Campaign style. The response was phenomenal: Courage Campaign members submitted 2,276 banner messages in 30 hours.
Many of these ideas were quite serious. Others were quite funny, like "Welcome Tina Fey!" and "I can see Mexico from this plane. Make me VP!". After deliberating for many hours, our team decided that Sarah Palin's extreme right-wing views are no laughing matter. Therefore, we need to send a very strong message to Sarah Palin and millions of L.A. County residents.
We would like to thank several Courage Campaign members for submitting variations of the "Sarah Palin, Thanks But No Thanks" banner idea, including Lisa in San Diego, Maureen in Riverside, Deborah in Santa Cruz, and James in Los Angeles.
Now, we need your help today to cover the cost of renting the airplane, assembling the banner, and paying for carbon offsets to this action. Can you contribute $33 -- a dollar per day until the November 4 election -- to help us launch our month-long campaign to defeat Prop 4 with this action on Saturday?
http://www.couragecampaign.org/NoThanksSarah
Unfortunately, many progressives are surprisingly complacent about Prop 4 this year, assuming it will be defeated despite poll numbers that say otherwise. While two "parental notification" ballot measures -- Prop 73 and Prop 85 -- were defeated in 2005 and 2006, that doesn't mean we can safely assume Prop 4 will be defeated as well.
That's why -- with vote-by-mail ballots hitting mailboxes next week -- we need you to spread the word to as many people as possible today. Please forward this message!
Thank you for taking the time to contribute to our campaign to change California and our country.
Rick Jacobs
Chair
P.S. If Sarah Palin says something absolutely outrageous during tonight's vice presidential debate, we will seriously consider changing the message on our airplane banner.
But right now, we can't imagine anything more important than spreading the message that Californians do NOT share Sarah Palin's position on Prop 4. Please join us today by contributing $33 to the Courage Campaign's airplane banner action on Saturday and future actions right up until Election Day:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/NoThanksSarah
Comments are closed for this post.
Besides that, what makes you think that the most fundamental right in this country isn't the right for a child to be born, grow up and make its own mistakes. What makes you think that the so-called right for a woman to 'choose' to take a child's life is more important that that child's right to live? How on earth did we get to a point where the right to life is trumped by a so-called 'right' to privacy which doesn't even really exist in the Constitution?
As far as Prop 4 is concerned, I strongly believe that this law will actually prevent more teen pregancies. If young people know their parents will be notified if they request an abortion, studies show they are much less likely to engage in the behovior that causes them to need an abortion.
Sorry, but I just can't support the Courage Campaign in this one.