Abortion Politics

Republican Vice Presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, announced today that her 17 year old daughter, Bristol, is 5 months pregnant. To reassure her core special interest groups, she stressed that her daughter had decided to keep the baby, and would be marrying the father.

She is quoted as saying: "We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support. Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family."

Clearly Ms. Palin seems to be a loving - if somewhat misguided - parent. After all, she's opposed to sex education in schools, even though it's been proven to be an effective deterrent to teenage pregnancy.

There's no word on whether sex was openly discussed in the home before the pregnancy occurred. And there's no word on whether the young couple has been given the option of not getting married, as teenage marriage often ends in divorce.

What is wonderful to hear from a strict anti-abortion supporter such as Ms. Palin is that her daughter had a choice. Ms. Palin and her husband were proud of their daughter's decision to have the baby.

What's troubling is that Ms. Palin, John McCain, and the Republican party would deny the same choice to millions of American woman to satisfy a special interest group. Instead of offering unconditional love and support to all families, she would demand adherence to the views of religious special interest groups.

Ms. Palin has asked for privacy for her children. This, too, is ironic. Ms. Palin, and the Republicans, want to keep government out of our lives - except when it comes to sex. She would have the government regulate who can marry and whether or not a pregnancy must be carried to term.

Sure, Ms. Palin's family deserves some choice. But, so do the millions of American families who are under constant assault from the anti-gay and anti-abortion special interest groups.

Republicans need to stop selling themselves to such special interest groups, and concentrate on unconditional support for all Americans instead.

That's a change which is long overdue in this country.