Power

For South Carolina’s Nikki Haley, Rape and Violence Are Not Public Health Issues

The Republican governor and potential vice presidential pick said funding rape and abuse prevention programs "distracts" the Department of Health from its real mission.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley Alice Keeney/AP

Good news! Apparently violent acts, rape, and other potential bodily abuses are no longer hazardous to your health. At least, that seems to be the opinion of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who just vetoed funding for programs to prevent domestic violence and sexual assault.

Via Think Progress:

Haley explained these vetoes in the Department of Health and Environmental Control budget by writing, “Each of these lines attempts to serve a portion of our population for which we extend our sympathy and encouragement, but nevertheless, it is only a small portion of South Carolina’s chronically ill or abused. Overall, these special add-on lines distract from the agency’s broader mission of protecting South Carolina’s public health.”

Think Progress notes that South Carolina’s rate of sexual violence has been higher than the national average for the last three decades. How much higher does it have to go for this governor to see it as a public health issue?