FLASHBACK: Obama broke with colleagues, voted present on protecting rape victims in ’99 state Senate vote.

FLASHBACK: Obama broke with colleagues, voted present on protecting rape victims in ’99 state Senate vote.(DC).In a 1999 legislative vote, then-Illinois State Senator Barack Obama was the sole state senator to not vote for for a bill that would protect sexual assault victims from having the details of their cases revealed publicly. On May 11 of that year, Obama voted “present” on a bill, ultimately made law, that allows victims of sex crimes to request that their cases be sealed from public view following a criminal conviction. Illinois Senate voting records show that Obama was the only senator who did not vote in favor of the bill.

Obama’s unique objection to voting for a bill meant to protect victims of sex crimes is a substantial departure from the picture he has attempted to paint for women voters. The future president, it was reported then, questioned the bill’s constitutionality. 

The legislation’s intent was to prevent public consumption of the explicit details of sex crimes without “good cause.” Obama would later vote “present” on the bill a second time when it returned to the state Senate Judiciary Committee, following passage by the state House. In that committee vote, two other state senators joined Obama in voting “present.” As he runs for re-election, Obama has made women’s rights — and a supposed Republican “war on women” — a focal point of his campaign.
Rape-related gaffes from Republican Senate candidates like Richard Mourdock in Indiana and Rep. Todd Akin in Missouri have become springboards for Obama’s attempts to drive a political wedge between Republicans and women voters. In a Wednesday interview with comedian Jay Leno, for instance, Obama bashed Mourdock, who implied this week that abortion should not be a viable choice for women who are raped because procreation in such cases is still an act of God’s will. Read the full story here.