The fact that Governor Sarah and Bristol Palin continued with their difficult pregnancies does not prove that they are pro-life. The fact that all of their pregnancies occurred after 1973 proves that they were never forced by the government to keep them. Maybe abortion was never an option for either of them. However, they obviously had opinions about the best course of action to take after experiencing a difficult pregnancy before it happened or just in case it happens. And, they were able to choose which options were best for them after deep reflection. Adoption or motherhood? Sarah and Bristol each took their pick. If John McCain and Sarah Palin had their way, no woman would even have that freedom.
Personally, adoption isn't an option for me. In the same way that many women couldn't bear to have an abortion, I couldn't bear to give my child to someone else. I wouldn't want to live knowing that I have a child out there that was at any point unloved by the one person who should have always been there. And the questions that would run through my mind would drive me nuts. What if they're being abused? What if they never get adopted and age out of the system and end up homeless? Are they going to try to find me? Do I then ignore them or do I try to get back into their life? Am I going to one day try to find them? What if they or their new parents reject me? What if I never find them? After a lot of thought, I know that I never want to go through that, and, as of now, I have the freedom to not have to.
But, if John McCain and Sarah Palin get elected, they will try their hardest to not only force me to give birth, but they will also totally invalidate my views, the views about which I thought long and hard. This isn't simply about the decisions women make after they become pregnant by mistake. It's also about the decisions women make just in case they become pregnant by mistake. Limiting choice doesn't just limit bodily autonomy. It limits critical thinking. It limits problem-solving. John McCain and Sarah Palin don't think much of your body, or your brain.
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Of course, I also have to wonder about the definition of "choice" for Bristol in this situation. She is in the sticky situation where if she had an abortion it would have the potential to have negative repercussions on her mother's career. She has also likely been taught that abortion is murder and that she will go to hell if she has one. At the age of seventeen and in this situation "choice" probably means something a lot different than it would for an older woman without a parent/spouse involved in politics with a strong anti-choice agenda. Yes, she had a choice in that abortion is not illegal (yet) and that is more than what her mother wishes upon the women of America, but her "choice" was heavily influenced.
UnFunnyFeminist - I had no choice in 1967 when I gave birth to a child. Unmarried, I was forced, by my parents, to give my child up for adoption, or hit the streets with a new baby - at 17. I let my choices be made for me as I refused to name the father for fear of being forced into marriage.
I could have given birth, and hit the streets. I know now that I did the best for a child I was not prepared to raise.
As I stated in another comment about Palin, she has sacrificed her child on the altar of ambition and like me, forty years after the fact, it is likely that she will not be allowed to forget a youthful mistake.
Sarah Palin is either a hypocrite or a self serving politician being used by the Republican machine to fill what they see as a gender gap in their ticket. Which is it?
You cannot have a moral stance so anti-choice that any birth is preferable to no birth. If the sanctity of all life rules out any acceptable instance for abortion in Ms. Palin's moral and political platform then she cannot be put into a position where she may have to step into the role of Commander in Chief for this nation. The sanctity of ALL life Ms. Palin means that you have no right to send young, healthy men and women into potentially life threatening situations. If there is no justifiable reason for a woman to be able to choose abortion then you can have no justifiable reason to send the sons and daughters we have born into war. Pro-war or pro-life? Make up your mind, you can't have it both ways.