About Me

September 2, 2008

Should you get married because you're pregnant?

First John McCain surprises the world by selecting little-known Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, a very conservative Christian (and apparently Tina Fey’s long-lost identical twin), as his Vice Presidential candidate. Now it turns out she certainly puts the “family” in “family values” – her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol Palin, and her 18-year-old boyfriend, Levi Johnston, both high school seniors, are expecting a baby in late December. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for the abstinence-only sex education that Gov. Palin so strongly supports.

But it’s all OK, you see, because Bristol and Levi are going to get married (!!!). Was that really their decision, or was it “strongly suggested” by their parents because they’d have to turn in their conservative Christian membership card otherwise? Before Levi’s MySpace page was taken down, it said that he didn’t want to have kids. I’ve actually heard that teenagers from very religious homes that stress “no sex ‘till you’re married” are actually more likely to have unprotected sex, because they tend not to have any protection handy when passion suddenly overtakes them (and often don’t even know what their contraceptive options are).

I guess we shouldn’t be surprised, considering this shocking tidbit from the Huffington Post:

“In November 2006, then gubernatorial candidate Sarah Palin declared that she would not support an abortion for her own daughter even if she had been raped. Granting exceptions only if the mother's life was in danger, Palin said that when it came to her daughter, ‘I would choose life.’” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/01/palin-on-abortion-id-oppo_n_122924.html)

By the way, Sarah Palin and her husband eloped on August 29, 1988, and their oldest son was born a mere eight months later. Their marriage has worked out so far, but Gov. Palin was 22, not a teenager.

It will be interesting to see what happens. I don’t think having a baby at 17 necessarily means your life is over or anything -- especially if you’re fortunate enough to have financial and family support, as Bristol Palin will -- but it sure makes your life much harder and more complicated than it should be at 17.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

D and I were beyond amused at the irony of her daughter being pregnant out of holy wedlock. Oh, yes, we laughed like crazy.

And did I tell you...not only is my husband voting for Obama, (as well as I) but my mother who has never voted anything but Republican for President in her entire life is voting for him as well! :o :) When I asked her why, she said, "Because John McCain is an old fart who talks too much about Vietnam."

SEECE

Anonymous said...

Wait, your mom's not rich nor a Christian conservative, and she's been voting Republican all these years? About time she votes for a Democrat. ;) I like the way she, you, and D are thinking! I so hope Obama takes it. It would be amazing to have someone as intelligent as he is in the White House.

Anonymous said...

Well, my mother was raised by die hard Republicans. (Seriously: I read the diary my grandfather kept one year, and his reference to the 1940 election was something like, "I hope that moron doesn't get re-elected." *insert giggles here*)

I don't think her vote is because she likes Obama, although she is impressed by his intelligence. It's mostly against McCain. It doesn't matter to me- a vote is a vote!

According to her, my father is thinking about voting for Obama, too. THAT one really floored me- my father's a Vietnam vet! He honors above all anyone who has done right and served their country (his words, not mine). He's so racist, but he even liked an African American friend of mine from college because, "That boy [who was in ROTC] is doing right in serving his country."

SEECE