Anne Woods: A Weekend for Superheroes
Sarah Palin Admits She Considered Abortion
Filed under: Celeb Parents
Click the image to see more shots of Sarah Palin and her family. Photo by Win McNamee, Getty Images
It was an shocking confession from the former Vice-Presidential candidate, a staunch pro-life advocate who once said she'd oppose abortion even if her own daughter was raped. Trig's prenatal testing shook her, said Palin. "....Just for a fleeting moment I thought, 'No one knows me here; no one would ever know.' ... My amniocentesis came back and then I understood why some people would think they could change their circumstances, just take care of it. Todd didn't even know (the test results)."
It wasn't only the fear of developmental delays, though. Palin admits she wasn't sure she wanted to become a mother again at age 44. "Plus, I was old," she told the crowd. "And I thought, 'Very funny, God. My name's Sarah, but my husband's not Abraham, he's Todd.'" Palin, in the thick of her career, said she had a hard time imagining "putting down the BlackBerry and picking up the breast pump."
Palin Family Album
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband Todd have five children with short, masculine and certainly unique names: Track, 19, Bristol, 18, (with Levi Johnston), Willow, 14, Piper, 7, and Trig, 8 months (not pictured). Read More
Fredy Perojo, AOL
"We both love each other," Levi Johnston, 18, told the AP in a rare interview about his relationship with 18-year-old Bristol Palin. "We both want to marry each other. And that's what we are going to do."
Paul Sancya, AP
Levi Johnston called himself a "redneck' on his MySpace page.
Justin Sullivan, Getty Images
Sarah Palin initially hid her pregnancy with Trig from the public, causing rumors that Trig was her grandson via Bristol.
Win McNamee, Getty Images
Gov. Sarah Palin, her husband Todd, and daughters Bristol,16, right, and Piper, 5, at the end of a 2006 inauguration ceremony in Fairbanks. Palin, 42, is the first female and youngest governor of Alaska.
Al Grillo, AP
"Trig is beautiful and already adored by us," read a statement by the Palin when Trig was born on April 18. "We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives. We have faith that every baby is created for good purpose and has potential to make this world a better place. We are truly blessed."
Paul J. Richards, AFP / Getty Images
"Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned," the Palins's statement said when they announced her pregnancy. "As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows that she has our unconditional love and support."
Robyn Beck, AFP/Getty Images
Chuck Heath, 70, (pictured with wife Sally), Sarah Palin's father, said gift boxes for his newest grandson are piling up in the governor's mail room from all over the world. There's no way the family will ever be able to answer every letter, he said, although they are trying.
Charlie Neibergall, AP
Then-Republican U.S. vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, her daughters, Piper, Willow, and husband Todd walk out onto the ice to drop the ceremonial first puck before a St. Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings hockey game.
Whitney Curtis, Getty Images
Sherry Johnston, Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston's other grandma -- besides Sarah Palin -- pled not guilty for charges of selling OxyContin. "I was in pain, and I'm still in pain," she told People.com.
Al Grillo, AP
There are few people in America who feel ambivalent about Sarah Palin; it seems either you adore her or she makes you want to stick sharp, pointy things in your ears. And it was her stance on abortion, I think, that was one of the biggest issues that alienated her from other women. Though these comments were meant to energize her pro-life supporters -- she did choose "life," after all -- I wonder if they'll make other women look at her in a different light. She's a mom who got bad news while she was pregnant with a baby she wasn't sure she wanted. Her feelings were very human, and her admission to them took courage.
There are some who will take Palin's comments and use them to support her unrelenting views on abortion. And that is certainly their right. But here's what I think: Sarah Palin did make a choice. No matter how briefly she considered it, she looked carefully at the options given to her and then weighed them, one against the other. And then she chose. The reason she had a choice in the first place was because she lives in a country where abortion is legal.
I respect Sarah Palin for her honesty. I think she opened the door -- whether she meant to or not -- to a more empathetic conversation with her statements. She's told women, "Yeah, I get it. I understand what it's like to be there, to be afraid, to be unsure." But what she's yet to do is show support for programs that could prevent unplanned pregnancies to begin with, or to admit that other women deserve the options that she had. Where she takes the conversation from here -- with her voice and with her vote, remain to be seen.
Is it possible for abortion to be discussed in a thoughtful, empathetic way? What do you think? And what do you think about Palin's comments?
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ReaderComments (Page 2 of 2)
5-21-2009 @ 9:34PM
Ellie said...mrspbh,
I agree with you one hundred percent that adoption is not only a solid but laudable option as opposed to abortion. I never said I was for abortion and killing babies; what I said was I was for the right to being able to choose. That's what this country was built on: the freedom to be able to choose, whether it be our religion, opinion, beliefs, who we want to marry, or any other number of things. And I'm happy that you made the decision to give your child up for adoption and that you're proud of your decision, particularly because everyone was happy in the end. But you also have to remember that you chose this path, not only for your daughter, but for yourself. Why shouldn't other women be afforded that luxury, that freedom? Simply because her beliefs don't necessarily match up with yours? Just because you're happy with the decision you made, doesn't mean all women would be as well.
Reply
5-03-2009 @ 5:36AM
Liz said...I was 12 when my uncle began raping me on a weekly basis. I was 13 when I came up pregnant. I am now 41 and married with a 22 yr old and 6 year old twins. I think about that time in my life when ever this topic comes up. I think it would have been inhumane to have been forced to carry that child full term and then what? Back then I didn't fully appreciate what was happening to me but even at that very tender age I knew that having that child would have been wrong.
IMHO life begins when it can sustain itself outside of the womb otherwise its simply the potential of life. It is a hard CHOICE for a woman to make at any age but we do have this choice. What I resent are prolifers that are able to appreciate the choice but yet want to take it away from others.
As for the adoption vs abortion issue, how many kids are homeless, in orphanages or foster care, unloved, abused, starving or sick? For every prolife person that advocates taking the choice of away from the individual and supplant it with, "give the baby away for adoption", why haven't they all been adopted? These folks would have so much more credibility. Maybe we should force every person over the age of 18 to adopt? How would you like not having a choice or say in the matter?
I also have a problem with a lot of the people that advocate making abortion illegal. They seem to only care about "life" when its in the womb but once its out... they seem to have lost their compassion. These same people that talk about life begining at conception and being precious, also condone the death penalty, war, not providing health care to poor families. How many people have died because they couldn't afford medication? In combat? How many innocent people have been executed? It just seems so hypocritical to me.
Maybe the reason I'm so bitter about prolifers is because when I came out of the clinic, there was a protest just outside and while I felt horrible beyond belief, both spiritually and physically, I had this woman get an inch to my face and screamed at me that was a murderer. Where was the compassion for a 13 year old girl that was still a baby herself?
Until there is a single child left that is living in sub-human conditions and needs a good home, please leave the abortion issue alone!
Maybe we need to come together and focus on dramatically reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies, then the need to have the anti abortion/choice discussion may become a moot point someday. Otherwise, as long as we insist on making sex something secret and shameful, as long as we want to keep our kids in the dark about sex and high horse preach to them about abstinence only, as long as we still manage to pump out men that commit rape/incest... leave me and my uterus alone! Its between me and my maker!
4-26-2009 @ 3:45AM
Hayley said...Melissa'a comment was really stupid. A baby born of incest isn't necessarily going to be mentally challenged or disabled or anything. Current research shows that the risk is about the same as it is for a "normal" child. The risk is only compounded when there is either a history of incest (many generations) or is the is a family history of disabilities. Otherwise it is the same as any other circumstance. ANY child can be born disabled if their parents have a disability, so should they not procreate then?
Reply
4-26-2009 @ 1:04PM
EH said...I think you need to educate yourself on the results of incestuous breeding, animals/ humans or otherwise. What current research are you quoting? Not a very educated response...By the way, many educated responsible adults do choose not to have children if their is a history of life threatening or altering defects. The question of "any parents having disabilities should not procreate?" is a bit broad. It would depend on the disability and the effect on the child...but let's not say that "current research shows the risk is about the same"....between normal unrelated parents and incestuous parents...That was actually a stupid remark.