With Sarah Palin making news again, I started thinking about how her views on abortion seem so out of touch with her personal experience.
A couple of months ago, Sarah Palin spoke to a group of conservative anti-choice advocates about her experience when she found out during her last pregnancy, that her son Trig had Downs Syndrome. You have to get about 4 minutes into the video before she starts talking about her experience, but the crux of her statement is that when she discovered at 13 weeks in her pregnancy that her son would be born with Downs, she did, in fact, consider terminating the pregnancy. Not only she did consider termination, but she also felt that she could understand why other women in her situation would consider abortion and perhaps choose abortion. She then goes on to explain that she used her personal faith and experience to make the decision to continue her pregnancy to term. In the next breath she states that her experience in making a personal decision about her pregnancy and family has reinforced her belief that abortion should be illegal, effectively taking away any other woman's ability to make such an important and personal decision.
I find this pretty remarkable coming from a woman who just stated that she not only seriously considered terminating her pregnancy, but that she felt she could understand why some women would make that choice. And yet here she is, publicly stating that her goal would be to deny other women and their families the ability to make these decisions in their own lives.
This is the part of the anti-choice movement that I simply can't wrap my brain around. I feel that being pro-choice is about respecting and honoring every person's ability to make decisions about their own lives regardless of whether or not I personally feel it is a decision that I would make on my own or whether or not it is a decision that I agree with. That someone would deny me or anyone else the ability to make personal life decisions is simply the most un-American thing that I can imagine.
There are times when I am with patients, listening as they tell me their stories and reasons for terminating or continuing their pregnancies, that I think, "Wow. That's not a decision that I would make," but I would never presume that I can know what the best decision for another person's life is better than they do. Could you?
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This is NOT a position that I hold, however, I think Sarah Palin and the anti-choice movement think that Palin was tempted to abort her child. And that the anti-choice movement wants to take that temptation away, so that everyone can live more moral and righteous lives.
That's my understanding at least.
Exactly. Her logic is as follows:
Abortion is always wrong.
I was put into a situation where I was tempted to have an abortion, but I didn't do it because I realized it was wrong.
Abortion should be illegal, so that other women who are tempted won't have an abortion (just in case their conscience doesn't stop them like mine did).
It is consistent and not hypocritical, if you agree with her premise that abortion is always wrong. I believe that killing your own child (already born) is always wrong. I can see why someone would be tempted to kill their child in certain situations, but I think it should be illegal, and that this shouldn't be a "choice" that is available to people. I use the same logic as Palin, only I make a big distinction between children who are already born, and those who are still dependent on the mother's body (which Palin does not).
I'm not trying to defend Palin because obviously I disagree with her, but just because she is so bad at explaining her thinking (and so bad at thinking, apparently) doesn't make her automatically a hypocrite.
This. This. A million times this.
It's not hypocrisy. It's a different thought process that some people disagree with. If you (as Sarah Palin) believe that life begins at conception and abortion is therefore always wrong you can still state that you were tempted to do wrong without condoning the practice.
Palin's not being hypocritical here, she's merely stating that she was tempted to violate her own moral code.
She made this speech at a state chapter of Right to Life. I think it would have been a safe place for her to talk about religion and sin and whatnot, but she didn't. So I think if that were her thought process, she would have said that. Not that she's particularly good at giving speeches.
"The only moral abortion is my abortion."
Ever hear that one?
"I understand why other women would want to make that choice, i just don't think they should actually be allowed to, you betcha!"
That woman is either a lunatic or deserves an Oscar for one outstanding performance. I cannot wrap my head around her hypocrisy either sometimes. I do agree with shelilia though - it seems to me that they are regarding her serious consideration as temptation to commit a sin, so she would be considered morally superior to the woman who ended up committing "the sin." This is how my mother, a fundamentalist Christian, views it anyway. And my mother thinks Sarah Palin has "great potential." *headdesk*
I couldn't assume I know best how to run somebody else's life, regardless of the ideas of temptation and moral superiority... but then, I can't see Russia from my house.