Butterfly Cauldron

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

This is why we need a fragging Plan C

I have family in law enforcement and, generally, I have no problem with cops. However, in this case? Huge. Fucking. Problem.

Short version: A woman is raped and reports it to the police. While taking her statement, they do a routine background check on her and find out there's a warrant for her arrest. For a juvenile matter that's over four years old. What to do, what to do? Why, arrest the rape victim, of course! Book her, toss her in jail and -- wait, it gets better -- deny her emergency contraception. Despite the fact that she's got a valid 'script for it. Why? Because it's against your religious beliefs. And, she's in jail, where else is she going to get the damned thing filled?

Other people have tackled this already. See here,here and here.

I don't know what to say about this, except this is yet another reason I'm pro-choice. It's not about abortion. It's about being regarded as a living, breathing, worthy human being. It's about not being punished for having a vagina. It's about getting the medical treatment you need in the time you need it. It's about basic goddamn human dignity. How hard a concept is that to grasp?

How many times can one woman be victimized? I pray her familly gets her into counseling immediately. What these people did. . .it seems unimaginable to me. A victim of a violent crime comes in and you throw her in jail? (One of the many links about this I read today said the warrant was issued because she owed like $4500 in restitution for a juvenile offense. Which may have been a fucking clerical error. So, think about this, this woman's dignity and humanity was worth $4500 to these people. Fuck that.) Then, after you've got her in jail, you refuse to let her take medication she needs because your god doesn't like it?

Well, you know what? That god is an abusive bastard and utterly unworthy of worship or even fucking acknowledgement. It's followers are self-righteous pricks who deserve to understand, one day, all of the pain they've caused others.

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posted by Zan at 6:10 PM

3 Comments:

I've always found it bizarre that they run a search on living people who are clearly victims. I mean, they weren't interested in whether the rapist had a beef w/ her, right? And I'm not aware that con women go around portraying themselves as rape victims, so there's no need to check for that.

You excel at articulating your rage.

6:51 PM  

Rage is my friend, oh internet girlfriend o'mine ;) And gods know, there's enough crap in this world to rage at.

7:11 PM  

AAUUGGGHHH

8:09 PM  

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