It’s a horrible hypothetical, especially considering Palin’s daughter was 14-years-old when she said this, and Alaska’s rape rate was more than twice the national average.
In November 2006, then gubernatorial candidate Sarah Palin declared that she would not support an abortion for her own daughter even if she had been raped.
Granting exceptions only if the mother’s life was in danger, Palin said that when it came to her daughter, “I would choose life.” (HuffPo)
Her position is even more extreme than John McCain’s. Both of them appear to be clueless when it comes to contraception and the role of education in preventing unplanned pregnancies.
While Palin’s positions have drawn the ire and concern of the pro-choice and progressive community, they are largely — save abortions in the case of rape — in line with John McCain’s own stances. The Senator is against federal funding of birth control and sex education. He has called for the overturning of Roe v. Wade and received a zero rating from NARAL. Once, aboard the Straight Talk Express, McCain was asked if he supported the use of contraception or President Bush’s abstinence-only education program to stem the spreading of AIDS.
“After a long pause, he said, ‘I think I support the president’s policy.’Does he believe that contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV? After another long pause, he replied, “You’ve stumped me.“
We cannot afford continued attacks on our reproductive freedoms and assistance to rape survivors. Abstinance-only education does not work to prevent pregnancies and STDs. If you don’t want women to end their pregnancies through abortion, you should support educating them at how to prevent them in the first place. These policies are obviously not about women’s health; they’re about controlling women’s bodies and the decisions we make regarding our lives.
September 1, 2008 at 9:03 am
I really don’t see how abstinence-only education proponents think people have sex only because they haven’t yet been told not to have sex.
“Oh! I was going to have premarital sex with multiple partners, but now that you’re telling me I should just abstain until monogamous marriage, I guess I won’t. Thanks! Guess I won’t be needing those condoms any more.”
Yeah, right.
Those who have decided to abstain have already made that decision. Those who have decided to have sex are going to have it whether they have contraceptives and proper sex education or not.
September 1, 2008 at 9:15 am
Right.
I agree with you that people are going to have sex whether they have the information about it or not. That’s why if we give them comprehensive sex education, many of them will know how to correctly use contraceptives to prevent unwanted pregnancies or STDs.
Unfortunately, I think for the abstinence-only crowd it’s not about preventing the resulting pregnancies and STDs, they just want to prevent the sex!