I'm afraid of Sarah Palin

It's not so much that Sarah Palin's inexperience worries me~I think we can all admit that Barack Obama has less experience than some older statesmen as well~it's her stance on "womens' issues".

Saying that if her daughter became pregnant through rape or incest, she'd expect her daughter to keep the child? I guess it's a good thing her daughter just made a mistake, otherwise there wouldn't BE a husband at the shotgun wedding.

Wanting rape victims to have to PAY to have a rape kit done? Because that'll drastically reduce the number of rape victims who come forward after being attacked. That number is low enough as it is. What are lower-income women supposed to do? Choose between paying for a rape kit or paying their rent?

And abstinance only. Puh-LEASE. It worked so well in Alaska, didn't it? You think, more than anyone, she'd know that (while not EVERY kid) many kids in high school (and junior high, let's be realistic here) are going to be having sex, in some way shape or form. There was an outbreak of syphilis in a school in Georgia~in an affluent suburb outside of Atlanta~in which over 200 teenagers tested positive. I don't know whether or not they were taught the "abstinance only" program, but it really didn't seem to matter whether or not they were taught anything at all. I know that my graduating class of 211 students only had 2 pregnancies~one junior year and one senior year, and that we had comprehensive sex ed starting in 5th grade.

And I abhorr the term "Pro-life". It implies that those who aren't "Pro-life" are out there willy-nilly "pro-death" killing babies. The phrase "Anti-choice" and "pro-choice" fit better; "pro-life" is intended to invoke a strong emotional response. Pro-choice does not mean pro-abortion. It means that you believe every woman should have the right to make a choice. Not only when it comes to abortion, but to other things as well.

Sarah Palin is a member of the FFL "Feminists for Life" (which is actually just...I can't even describe it.) They perpetuate the myth that hormonal birth control is not a "contraceptive", it is an "abortifacient". Pretty much, they 'educate' young women that birth control pills and IUDs kill a fetus. This is so untrue! The hormones in birth control pills PREVENT an egg from being released. No egg, no potential fetus. So, if inhibiting the release of an egg can be construed as 'abortion', everyone who believe that must be pregnant constantly, right? Otherwise they are wasting a potential human life? Before this gets ridiculous, and really, getting into the FFL's values CAN get ridiculous, I'm going to stop this section of thought, and close.

I'm TERRIFIED of what might happen if Sarah Palin is VP. Even more so to think that she could possibly be president~even if McCain DOESN'T die in office, which, I mean, he's pretty old, it could happen~she'd be the Republican party's presumptive nominee if, god forbid, McCain can hold on for two terms. I'm worried that I'll wake up and no longer have a choice, no longer have ready access to birth control or medical services that I may deem necessary. Or that my friends and female family members~my cousins, my cousins' daughters, my sisters-in-law~might not have access should THEY need it.

I'm scared for the girls who are still children~the ones who, in the next few years, will need information available to them. All information, not just "Don't do it." I'm not saying, don't tell them not to have sex, I'm saying let them know that if they DO decide to, there are ways to protect themselves.

I don't want to have to worry that there could be more sexual predators that go unprosecuted because a woman couldn't afford to pay to have her rape kit done, so whatever DNA might remain wouldn't be in the system.

I really don't want to have to worry that if I become pregnant with an unviable fetus, I'll be forced to carry it to term. I'm not talking about birth defects or Down's Syndrome~a lot of people are using Sarah Palin's baby as "the pro-choicers would have aborted him!" weapon~I'm talking about a fetus who would never be a baby, never be a child.

I've got shoes on my feet, and I'm afraid Sarah Palin will want to make me take them off. There was always this undercurrent with Bush that "Oh, he'll be horrible for womens' rights" and he's wasn't the best, but it seems outrageous to me that a woman would want to limit other women in such drastic ways.