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| An alleged photo of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin |
By now, you’ve likely heard that Bristol Palin, the 17-year-old unmarried daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, is five months pregnant. Perhaps you’ve also heard that this bit of news was released to prove that Sarah Palin’s own fifth child, Trig, who is about five months old, IS actually her own child—and not that of her daughter, as some liberal blogs unofficially linked to the Obama campaign (e.g., barackoblogger.com) have hinted. The allegation was that Sarah Palin had faked her own pregnancy to cover up the fact that her teenage daughter was with child. In order to dispel that myth, Sarah Palin admitted that her teenage daughter is currently with child. Got that? (Perhaps someone should remind the Palins that Juneau is a town in Alaska, and not license to be a teenage mother.)
A senior McCain official stated that though they had no evidence that Obama and/or his campaign was behind the allegations, the “blog rumors circulating on websites that appeared to support Obama had the effect of being ‘a real anchor around the Democratic ticket.’” For his part, Senator Obama denied the connection, saying he considered people’s families “off-limits” vis-à-vis political campaigning.
“We don’t go after people’s families,” Obama said. “We don’t get them involved in the politics. It’s not appropriate and it’s not relevant. Our people were not involved in any way in this and they will not be. And if I ever thought there was somebody in my campaign that was involved in something like that, they’d be fired.
“It has no relevance to Governor Palin’s performance as a governor or potential performance as a vice president,” he added. “So I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories.”
Okay. I get it. But she offered up the news. Okay, I get that she offered the news in response to people trying to make up nasty lies about her family. And while I agree with Obama in theory, I also think these types of things are relevant to know about someone who could be the first female president of the United States (if McCain were to realize people’s fears of falling ill). How, for example, would she lead this nation on the issue of Roe v. Wade (well, we know; Palin is a staunch anti-abortionist and pro-lifer).
But as a female AIDS activist, I want to know how Palin feels about offering comprehensive sex education to young Americans in this era when one in four teenage girls has at least one STD (and we have no idea how many have HIV, because the ones screened for that study weren’t tested for HIV) and when 34 percent of new HIV infections are among people younger than 30.
I find it amazing that the Republicans think that the same kids who are too young, impressionable and fragile to be taught the facts of life are capable of determining whether they are ready to become parents. How is it that kids can’t be taught about condoms even when they can have babies? And how will those kids parent their own kids if they themselves were not given proper sex ed? When will we stop the cycle of refusing to divulge lifesaving information to America’s youth?
If the fact that Bristol plans to keep the child and marry the father makes her pro-life poster-girl material, couldn’t she also be used as evidence that America’s teens are having unprotected sex and are therefore at risk for contracting HIV? Has anyone mentioned to Sarah or Bristol that anyone who has ever had unprotected sex is at risk for contracting HIV? Has Bristol ever been tested? Will she?
I can get down with Obama and agree to leave the Palins alone, but only under one condition: We use Bristol as an example not just of the right to life but also of the lack of widespread and complete sexual education in America. “Children” who are old enough to become parents deserve to know the whole truth about human health as it relates to their sexuality.
Bristol Palin is living proof that America’s kids are sexually active. The issue is not whether or not abstinence works to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies (it does), but whether or not it’s possible to keep people, particularly teens with raging hormones, from having sex (apparently, we can’t). Bristol is proof-positive of our nation’s failure to realize that abstinence is a farce.
We need real leadership at the highest levels of politics on the issue of comprehensive sex education if we hope to save the lives of our children—and our children’s children. Being pro-life is not the only way to save a child’s life.
We’re not the only ones who find this subject saucy...
Check out the Black AIDS Institute’s press release from today.
Sexologist and friend of POZ Logan Levkoff blogged about the issue on the Huffington Post.
Great article Regan. I'm in total agreement with the issues you raised. In addition, I wonder why no one seems to be concerned that while Bristol is 17 (minor) and the father of her child is 18 (adult) that this constitutes statutory rape and sexual abuse of a minor? Legally, a minor is not capable of giving consent. I also wonder whether Bristol truly is making an informed and free will decision to have the child and marry the father?
Obama for Pres
Hard work
Dream big
He seems very level
P.S. He is not spoiled
My dear Regan, not only is it OK to talk about the Palin family, it is incumbent upon us to do so!
The so-called 'Party' of 'family values' is so blatantly hypocritical, mean-spirited, and downright full of sh** - that to not respond to their brand of 'evil' would be wrong.
The news just keeps getting better, Regan: I am still trying to 'wrap-my-head-around' the news that Gov. Palin CUT the AK State budget to provide assistance to - 1: unwed pregnant mothers; 2: assistance to families with special needs children.
YES - every woman in America can surely identify with this mad woman from Alaska. Sarah Barracuda is NO role model for women or men.
Does anyone really care that she is the only candidate running for President who can 'field dress a moose'?
I am afraid that she is even more crazy than the cooky McCain who antagonizes people for fun, then gets mad when you bring up the 'Keating 5' bank scandal!
Good Luck Poz America, I fear for us all.
Greg
You hit the nail right on the head. I support the pro-life idea but I also do believe that sex education is paramount to maintaining the pro-life stance by providing information to the sexually active "children" to avoid getting into a situation of having to decide to raise a 'child-of-a-child'. Palin is proud to use her daughter as a poster girl for pro-life, the fact is she can afford it. How many young girls have no such privilege to provide for their children who were conceived by a child 'prematurely' due to lack of sex-ed? If this is not one of the implications of political issues we should be discussing I don't know what else is there to discuss.
I noticed your links to this article are all anti-republican and very pro BLACK. Get off your high horse and stop your ignorance, you probably don't even have kids,if this is the only thing negative you can say about this woman are stories and roumors about her children, than I think because of people like you, the republicans will actually end up winning this election.
I'll never cease to wonder how a society that believes in showing death and injury onscreen in movies can be so back-assward about sex education. This very reason is why so many people living outside the US have a hard time taking American policy makers seriously - there is just so much that is illogical that we end up just giving our heads a shake and being quietly glad we were born elsewhere. The ban on HIV visitors, the blanket bans on gay marriage, the rampant Evangelical movement whose leaders end up in the tabloids, the combination of church and state in the nation that rebelled against the British Empire for that very reason, the rabid desire for handguns, the obscene amout of resources spent on the industrial military complex, the notion that America shall lead the world... It all lumps together into a perplexing paradox! No wonder the teenagers are having babies - it's one thing "real and meaningful" they can hang an identity on! Like Kathy Bates' character Margene in the movie "Bonneville" says: "The kids already know how to make babies! It's how NOT to make 'em that they need help with!"
I am cynical about the effectiveness of
Sex educaton since denial and indifference toward ones mortaltiy, and pregnancy occur after the fact, ie. being infected. I just await, if the republicans win, the hypocrisy when the gay marriage debates begin, and Ms. Palin talks about how we need to protect the sanctitiy of marriage, while her own daughter mocks marriage and God by her "sinful" behavior. I also believe that her daughter knows that fertilization of her eggs can occur when her boyfriends sperm swims towards it target. I am sure she realizes that her religion finds that conceiving a baby out of wedlock is more sinful than practicing birth control, and that Juneau Alaska sells condoms at the nearest 7-11. Like the caribou around her, she was just caught up in the heat of the moment
All I can possibly say is AMEN!
As usual, the Republicans, who seem to be particularly good at saying "Do as we tell you...not as WE do".
Don't get me wrong...I think Obama is just as bad...but the Republicans DO seem to have an edge...after all..they are the ones setting themselves up as the Social Arbiters of the country's morals.
Hi, this is james cotromanes from wheaton,IL. I wrote a letter to poz magazine for the readers forum about how wonderful poz focus has been for me as far as coming to a point of accepting and living with my HIV diagnosis. Your personal storyline along with the information was great and am forever grateful. Just wanted to know if you did receive it and if it will be posted in the next issue. Thanks again, james Cotromanes