Sarah Palin Fires Health Director, Reportedly Over Abortion Bill
A proposal requiring parental consent for abortions for girls ages 17 and under was certified last week by the state of Alaska. Guess who thinks this is a good idea?
Yes, Sarah Palin.
She may be leaving office with tremendous debt accrued from combating a bevy of ethics complaints, as she told ABC news while coated in fish guts, but a lucrative book deal and other Palin brand-furthering opportunities could pay for that — and then some. So she’s angling to become a full-time professional celebrity rather than a politician, but not without first attempting to rewrite Alaska’s abortion policy.
The day before announcing that she would leave the Governor’s office, Sarah Palin terminated state public health director, Beverly Wooley, who said she planned to draw on research, not ideology, in answering questions posed by state representatives about the legislation.
Wooley was the second state health official to be ousted in as many months. State chief medical officer, Jay Butler, was terminated in June for the same reason, according to Mother Jones Magazine.
If passed (the proposal needs nearly 33,000 signatures to appear on a ballot next year), the law would require permission from a parent in all 17-and-under abortion cases — except in the following circumstances, as outlined by the Anchorage Daily News:
The teen submits a notarized statement that she is a victim of abuse by a parent or guardian.
The teen persuades a court to let her bypass notification.
A doctor declares a medical emergency.
A similar parental consent bill was ruled unconstitutional by the Alaska Supreme Court two years ago.
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