Where’s the harm?
The big news story of last week was, undoubtedly, that of Bristol Palin’s teenage pregnancy. What amused me most about the affair was that her mother, Republican Vice President candidate Sarah Palwein, revealed her daughter’s pregnancy in response to rumours that her five month old son, Trig, was actually Bristol’s, and the Alaskan governor and her husband were passing the child of as their own in order to protect their daughter’s reputation. Well, Sarah soon put a halt to that dirty gossip! “Wrong, suckers — my daughter couldn’t have given birth to Trig because she was too busy getting herself knocked up at the time! Take that!” So there we have it — Bristol Palin is five months pregnant with her boyfriend, self proclaimed “redneck” Levi Johnston’s child. The good news, however, doesn’t end here, folks! Yes indeedy, not only is the pitter patter of tiny feet on the cards, but so too are wedding bells — Bristol and Levi are getting married! That’s good, right? Two teenagers having a baby together, taking the responsible decision to raise their child together, as man and wife? Not according to the majority of the left-wing blogosphere. Apparently poor little Bristol is being viciously coerced into marriage by her tyrannical, evangelical mother. Not only that, but she has also been prevented from having the abortion that she so obviously desires. Now that poor girl has to face up to the responsibilites that occasionally come with being involved in an adult sexual relationship, and raise her baby in a family environment with the help of her husband. What a disgrace, eh?
Firstly, why must everyone assume that Bristol Palin wanted an abortion in the first place? Yes, her parents are Christian, and okay, maybe she’s not the most Christian person in the world if she’s engaging in sex outside marriage (although, hey! At least she’s not using contraceptives!), but what’s to say she herself is not anti-abortion? Earlier this year, she witnessed her own mother give birth, rather late in life, to a Down’s Syndrome baby. Given the amount of times that Bristol has been photographed with her new brother in the last few weeks, nobody can doubt that she really loves little Trig. Her parents knew in advance that they were about to give birth to a child which would have mental, and quite possibly physical, disabilities, yet they chose not to terminate the pregnancy. Perhaps Bristol, in the first few months of her pregnancy, watched her little brother grow and enjoy life, and thought of her own baby, and simply felt that an abortion was not for her. A lot of people, whether left-wingers want to admit it or not, are anti-abortion, including teenage girls! (Now’s probably a good time to note that I am actually pro-choice, and would seriously consider having an abortion myself were I to find myself pregnant in certain circumstances — however, being pro-choice does not mean that I am pro-abortion — if a woman feels that bringing a baby to term is the right thing for both her and it, then more power to her!) Therefore, there really is no evidence to suggest that Bristol Palin has been cruelly forced into keeping her child.
As for her impending marriage to Levi Johnston.. Well, where’s the harm in that? Once again, there is no evidence for these two being forced to marry — number one, why should Bristol necessarily even keep the baby? If she wanted to just get on with her life as a teenager, then she could easily give her child up for adoption. And if she wanted to be a single mother, then I’m sure her large family would provide her with plenty of support. What difference would it make at this stage for her and Levi to wed? She’s pregnant, and not Mrs. Johnston yet, so clearly the shockingly un-Christian deed has been done. So why are they getting married? Well, maybe because they love each other. Maybe because they are actually quite excited about becoming parents. Maybe because they want to spend the rest of their lives together as a family. Sure, maybe I’m wrong — but these two are young, and perhaps the idea of playing happy families appeals to them right now. Perhaps the reality of the responsibilities which they are about to face hasn’t quite sunk in. Perhaps none of this will work out, and they’ll be filing for divorce this time next year. As for now, however, they’re giving it a shot, and how can anyone fault them for this?
Call Sarah Palin whatever you want, but, in my eyes, she is a good parent who has raised her children to take responsibility for their own actions. And hey, with all the scandal that has surrounded this family thus far, two weeks after her nomination was announced, imagine all the gossip about them if/when she actually becomes VP!
If you want to find out more delicious scandal about the Jamie Lynn and Casey of the Republican Party, then you know what to do in November — vote red!
September 11, 2008 at 11:34 pm
Um, some responses:
1) I don’t know if I have seen anyone who has any credible voice in the liberal blogosphere voice that Bristol should have or wanted an abortion
2) I don’t know if I have seen anyone who has any credible voice in the liberal blogosphere voice that she’s being “forced” into marriage, though, if she were, that isn’t exactly good. Marriage = good. Forced into marriage = not so good. I saw some talk about whether Bristol’s boyfriend was really intending to stay with her (and there was the thing on his Facebook page where he said he didn’t want kids), but it hardly made it to the more prominent liberal blogs.
(links showing that people are actually saying what you claim them to say are good in these instances)
The more vocal topics of discussion on the liberal blogosphere is the fact that Bristol’s pregnancy discredited Sarah Palin’s position on abstinence only education in schools. How’d that work out?
Also, the deal with Sarah faking her own pregnancy was largely shouted down in the liberal blogosphere. The more interesting aspect is why Palin flew all the way back to Alaska after her water broke. Isn’t that kind of…dangerous?
Part of the point is that, people tend to like to grab what some no-one-reads blog or some random diarist on daily kos (who speak only for themselves) say and apply it to the entire liberal blogosphere. That isn’t any fairer than, say, taking something written on this blog and then using it to try to smear all conservatives.
September 12, 2008 at 12:19 am
Thanks for reading!
1) Tell me who you consider to be credible voices in the liberal blogosphere? I don’t mean that in a sarcastic way, I mean it sincerely, because I have seen plenty of negative comments on Bristol’s pregnancy. Maybe I should have just said “blogosphere” though, as it obviously goes without saying that most conservative blogs wouldn’t go all negative about the family of a Republican candidate’s daughter. Believe me, I am far from blindly biased towards right-wing blogs — in fact, I wish many of them were more neutral. Just recently, a blogger got kicked off a major red site for writing a negative piece on Palin, which I think is an absolute disgrace. So honestly, I’m not blind to right-wing blogosphere flaws. I just didn’t have a problem with what they had to say regarding Bristol Palin’s pregnancy.
2) I didn’t say being forced into marriage was good — I just don’t think she’s being forced into marriage. As for Levi Johnston not wanting kids, what teenage boy does? These things happen. (Although he might want to take that down from his MySpace). And speculation about him intending to stay with her is akin to speculation about her being forced into marriage, or being forbidden from having an abortion.
3) Sure, Sarah Palin championed abstinence-only education while her daughter was getting pregnant, but let’s face it — there are other ways of finding out about safe sex. I went to a Catholic school, come from a Catholic family, and still have managed to discover contraception. I don’t see how her daughter’s mistake can discredit Palin’s stance — no mother can be expected to prevent a teenage child from doing what he or she is intent on doing. Palin promotes abstinence, and her teenage daughter enjoys sex and decides to have it regardless of what her mum says. Surprise, surprise!
4) No, flying in labour isn’t particularly dangerous. Sarah Palin had four children before Trig, so she knows what labour feels like. Labour is a long process, and just because your waters break does not mean that your baby is about to pop. Sure, flying in the later stages of pregnancy doesn’t come recommended, but there’s no real harm in wanting your baby to be born in your home state. If she, as the woman in labour for the fifth time, felt comfortable with flying, then I say that’s her choice, and leave her to it.
Anyway, as I say, thanks for reading what is, incidentally, not even a particularly conservative blog, and thanks also for taking the time to comment — I appreciate it!