In the 2008 Presidential election, Republican John McCain chose Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate. Gov. Palin stated in an interview with Katie Couric that she doesn’t believe in abortion in cases of rape or incest, making her the strongest advocate for anti-abortion issues to run on a ticket in several elections.
WATCH: NARAL and N.O.W. members discuss their thoughts on the '08 election:
During the course of the campaign, charges of Barack Obama being in favor of infanticide gained popularity on the internet. This stemmed from proposed legislation he voted against as a state senator in Illinois in 2001 that said, essentially, that a fetus that survives a late-term abortion should not be provided care. It was a state version of the federal Born Alive Infant Protection Act.
Sen. Obama defended his vote stating that those babies “born alive” as a consequence of a failed abortion would already receive care under existing legislation and that this bill was just a way for anti-abortion advocates to undermine Roe Vs. Wade.
According to the Huffington Post, "the Illinois version of the bill that Obama opposed was also bundled with other proposals that would have put doctors at risk of prosecution, which led the Illinois State Medical Society to oppose the measure along with Obama." This was used for attack-ad fuel during the campaign:
WATCH: The "Abortion Survivor" campaign ad
WATCH: Megan Carpentier, former lobbyist and current blogger for Jezebel.com responds
During the course of the '08 campaign, another controversy that took place primarily on the internet was the debate over an unclear charge that Sarah Palin knowingly charged rape victims for their own exams while mayor of Wasilla. The theory was debunked by the National Review, and then the debunking was debunked by Megan Carpentier of Jezebel.com who speculated that part of the reason Palin may have charged victims for rape kits was because the emergency contraceptive Plan B is sometimes offered as part of the rape exam. Although not an abortion pill, many anti-abortion advocates oppose it.
Planned Parenthood put out this ad featuring a rape survivor discussing the rape kit issue.
WATCH: The ad
WATCH: Megan Carpentier of Jezebel.com responds
