Right or wrong? Woman denied morning after pill

[quamp]

Story here

TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - A woman who told police she had been raped was taken to jail because of an outstanding warrant and denied use of a morning-after pill to prevent a potential pregnancy, the woman's lawyer said on Tuesday.

Rape is a very serious crime. That alone is traumatic for the woman. Granted, they had the right to arrest her for the 2003 Sarasota warrant. However, denying the pill is just wrong IMHO.

The woman was put in handcuffs and taken to jail. She was released on Monday afternoon.

I think that if she becomes pregnant, they should have to pay for her abortion. At minimal, they should help care for the kid.

"It was a failure to take the actual dynamics into play," she said.

[Guest echtrae]

Welcome to the sexually repressed states of America.

[foeofthelance]

^ Huh?

As it is, beyond wrong. Ok, I can see them picking her up on the warrant for failure to pay restitution. That was just a really bad judgement call on the part of the arresting officers, but it is a (somewhat) understandable decision. It is their job to fill such warrants, and that is what they did. Perhaps no the most sensitive of decisions, and possibly not even one they took into full consideration, but I will call that a minor oops.

Now, denying the woman the morning after pill, after she was raped (which is allowed even by the most stringent anti-abortionist activists that I have ever come across), and on religious grounds to make matters even worse, is just wrong. Who ever was responsible for the jailer/watch officer in question should proabably be facing an investigation right now. Who ever hired the watch officer should probably be looked into as well. Being an officer of the law requires impartial judgement, and any one who seeks to inflict punishment or impose their beliefs on those entrusted into their custody, is automatically incapable of holding such a position. The guard has hopefully been terminated by now, though is most likely facing inquiry instead. Hopefully that will end in her (I'm assuming it is a her, based on the fact it was a female prisoner) removal from any position of authority in law enforcement.

There are still questions unanswered though. Who allowed the guard to make such a decision in the first place? Why wasn't it taken care of when they had her checked out at the clinic (which they at least did, thankfully.) Why wasn't she allowed to get a second opinion from another guard?

Ah well. Score one more point for the forces of stupidity.

[StoryJunkie]

I couldn't give a rat's ass about the pill or not

I laugh at the crazy justice that was meted out.

Was that karma or what?

She needed the help of the police but she avoided them for years. Who cares about the extenuating circumstances? A thousand women get raped every day, and I bet half of them don't even know the pill exists.

[Guest Agaib]

It strikes Me as pretty disgusting. I'm not sure what else can be said on My part.

[redsliver]

Uh... it doesn't say who denied her the pill. If it was the guard, I agree with his decision to withhold the pill. He's not a pharmacist nor does he have any medical training, had he given her medication he would have or at least should have lost his job. If the doctor at the clinic denied her the pill, then I can see a controversy over that aspect.

The felony arrest immediately after the rape was poor judgment but I suspect the officer who arrested her didn't have the leeway to let her go as it was.

In my opinion what happened to her is horrible, but I don't have the information to pass judgment on the officers involved.

[foeofthelance]

My apologies, I should have noted in my rant that I had a bit of extra information, having read the full article in the newspaper. It was a guard, and said guard cited religious reasons for denying access to the pill.

[redsliver]

I disagree with his imposing his beliefs on her but I don't think he should be able to dole out medication, whether it be over the counter or prescription.

[foeofthelance]

Granted that the guard should have been allowed to dispense medication on their own initiative, but I get the feeling that the guard denied any access to said medication, including getting said prescription from the on call medic. IIRC, it is also standard procedure to automatically issue the morning after pill to rape victims, though I may be misled in this.