One Utah

The news that Bristol Palin, age 17, is five months pregnant has, to say the least, focused attention on questions of sexuality education (her mother, Republican VP candidate, current Governor of Alaska, is on record supporting abstinence-only), and reproductive freedom (the Governer opposes abortion except in the exceedingly rare circumstances it is necessary to save the mother’s life). The Palin’s claim that Bristol “chose to keep the baby.” As Ann at Feministing points out:

In reality, Bristol’s actual “choice” was probably not whether to terminate the pregnancy or carry it to term, but whether raise the child herself or put it up for adoption.

Debra Haffner says:

The research, as I’ve written about in my books for parents, is quite clear. In homes where parents talk openly about sexuality with their children, including their values about premarital sex and contraception and STD prevention, their children are more likely to delay and more likely to protect themselves if they do have sex. Perhaps Governor Palin should reconsider her positions on teenage pregnancy prevention.

The Palin’s released news about Bristol’s pregnancy was released for an even more fun reason: Internet rumors claimed that Bristol was in fact the mother of Trig, the Palin’s fourth month old son. Ed Brayton has the details of the rumor. Now the rumors were unfounded - and ultimately based on Sarah Palin’s unusual behavior at the time of Trig’s birth (see Ed’s post).

I think it is obvious that the news that Bristol Palin is pregnant would inevitably have become News, even if her mother weren’t running for Vice President - after all her the grandmother-to-be is the Governor of Alaska. I can’t imagine that Bristol is thrilled to be the subject of national news. She’s probably already discovered being a pregnant teen is nothing like Juno. If Bristol’s experience is like most teens in small town America, she received little, if any, information about sexuality and conception; she may have believed any number of myths and lies about sexuality. Given that her mother is a raving wingnut, chances are good she didn’t anything like accurate information at home.

Lauren at Feministe has some great insight (emphasis added):

The scared, pregnant teenager I was can’t imagine how much it sucks that Bristol has to go through this with prime-time media breathing down her neck. But the truth is that many teen parents, especially if they’re from wealthy, stable families with lots of resources, can be great parents who raise happy and healthy kids. In this respect Bristol is not at a disadvantage. To the Palins’ credit, she appears to have their full support, and I find their forthrightness admirable considering the negative stigmas surrounding teen pregnancy. Moreover, Bristol is going to benefit from her mother’s fundamentalist base. The religious right’s belief that “doing the right thing” is getting married and starting a nuclear family will bolster her decision and her experience as a young parent because she will have support from her family and community.

I am a little troubled that marrying the father is part of the equation. I understand that the importance of the nuclear family is part of their religious community’s culture, but I’m still bothered by the willingness to throw a teenager into a legally binding contract considering how much we know about the instability endemic to teen marriages.

Hugo Schwyzer has told his experience as a teen - he and his girlfriend got pregnant, she got an abortion. Hugo’s described the experience:

When I was 17 and a high school senior, I got my girlfriend pregnant. We were both underage; we were young and scared. In the desperate days and weeks after we confirmed that she was pregnant, she and I talked of many things. We briefly fantasized about getting married and having the child, but quickly abandoned that idea. Both of us were eager for college, eager for independence, and knew enough to know that we were utterly unready for the awesome responsibilities of marriage and children. More seriously, we reflected on whether or not my girlfriend should carry the pregnancy to term and then give the child up for adoption. To be completely honest, that was my wish. But it wasn’t my decision to make, nor should it have been. After all, my body wasn’t pregnant. I wouldn’t finish out high school “showing”; I wouldn’t have college delayed a year by carrying a baby. I wouldn’t have to go through what must be the unspeakably difficult task of giving a child you’ve carried for nine months up for adoption. And so, with many tears and much trembling, we decided on abortion . . .

The abortion was done in a doctor’s office in Monterey on a warm spring Saturday morning I will never forget: June 22, 1985. I sat in the waiting room with my girlfriend’s mother, trying to read a magazine. Afterwards, her mom took her home to sleep the day away. I went for a walk on the beach, alternating between guilty tears and an extraordinary numbness. Had things been different, the child that would have been born (the due date, we were told, was February 8, 1986) would be a sophomore in college this year — the same age as many of my students.

But I know so well that she and I were lucky in our parents! It would be absurd to assume that every teenager has a mother or father who will respond with reassurance, unconditional love, and support. I wish that it were so. Frankly, I think some teens might be surprised by the depths of understanding that their parents might display if they took the risk to tell them! I certainly feared recriminations before telling my parents; I was incredibly relieved that I didn’t get them.

At the end of the day, the debate about abortion, about reproductive health and freedom, about teen pregnancy, is so often distorted by screaming Christian conservatives who seem convinced that any choice other than having the baby is evil. I think it was Judith Levine who described the story Bristol Palin is living as a pre-modern story - that sex leads inevitably to pregnancy, pregnancy to marriage, marriage to family. The story about Bristol Palin - whether or not she herself should be the topic of discussion - is one that America needs to stop telling - and stop living.

Campaigns against abortion miss the point. Abortion isn’t the problem. Abortion is only an option when other options have failed - when, for instance, contraception fails, or isn’t used. The right’s war on abortion is focused on entirely the wrong problem. It has failed for 35 years. It’s not that Americans are thrilled with abortion; it’s that most of us aren’t willing to take the choice out of the hands of the people most intimately affected.

Pursuing policies that give all people knowledge of and better tools to manage their reproductive health and choices would have the coincidental effect of reducing the abortion rate. Reduce unintended pregnancies and the abortion rate goes down. Outlawing abortion, making contraception difficult to access, and teaching abstinence-only mis-education will have no effect on the rates of unintended and teen pregnancy.

The question we should be asking Sarah Palin isn’t, “How do you feel about being a 44 year old grandmother?” It isn’t, “Can we talk about your daughter?” It is, “Given the real world experiences that have shown that abstinence-only education doesn’t work, what policies would you pursue that would actually reduce the rate of unintended pregnancies?” We could even ask, “How would your policies help 17 year old girls who don’t want to be parents?”

This entry was posted Monday, September 1st, 2008 at 6:33 pm and is filed under 2008 Election, Conservatives, Contraception, Privacy, Religious Fundamentalism, Sarah Palin, This Blog. Both comments and pings are currently closed.