Obama is absolutely correct - this story has nothing to do with the presidential election. It’s only distracting people from the real issues. The left and right are both guilty of trying to slander their opponents. Did you read Sunday’s blogs about how Palin’s 5th child was actually her daughter’s? Great story - too bad it wasn’t true!

Teach sex education as best as you can to your children. If you disagree with your local school district or the President’s views - take responsibility and do it yourself!

Word is she’ll only be a ’single mom’ for a short minute as they’re saying the daughter is going to be marrying the boy.

Other than that, I don’t know that I want to comment fully on her politics. I will say that she doesn’t represent me as a working mother, or support any of my personal beliefs.

It just proves that teen pregnancy happens and politicians are NOT holier than thou!

I agree with PHIL: Teach sex education as best as you can to your children….take responsibility and do it yourself!

IT HAPPENS!

The Republicans think this will make the Palins an “everyfamily” in the eyes of the Americans. Hell yes, in the eyes of bliind Americans.

I take much bigger issue with the idea of a 17yr old marrying the baby’s father in order to somehow make this ‘all better’. Motherhood you can figure out with the support of your family, marriage as a teen ager, that is a recipe for disaster.

I think Obama is being a little naive in that statement.

Of course this was going to be an issue! Palin stands for a certain set of believes and values and having an unwed pregnant 17 year goes against pretty much everything the advocates. And OF COURSE it wll make the headlines and OF COURSE people are going to talk about it - negatively and positively.

Not sure who they are hoping to appeal to really? It cant possible be single mothers? Like Amy said very few us would be able to identify with her on a single mother level.

Maybe parents of teenagers who have tried the best they can to teach their kids right from wrong only to have their kids make stupid mistakes?

I’ve been hesitant to talk about this at all. But, I have an opinion and I’m going to make this as non-partisan as possible.

Can we really judge Palin for the choices that her daughter made? My parents talked to me about sex. It was very clear that I shouldn’t do it and that I should wait for marriage. It was talked about. We didn’t hide it. I knew right from wrong, yet, I chose to have sex, unprotected and at 19, was pregnant and unwed.

Is this my parents fault? Should they be judged because I made wrong choices?

Palin, before being the VP candidate, before being the governor of Alsaska, is a mother.

We can only do our best to protect our children and attempt to teach them right from wrong, but that doesn’t always mean that they are going to do the right thing.

My father firmly believes that he failed me as a father when it comes to the choices that I made in life.

My stance? I was taught what to do and I did what I wanted to do. I take 100% responsibility for my actions and the consequences that comes with it.

For me? This situation has only made me relate with her as a PERSON more.

As for how she’ll do in the white house? I don’t know. I’m still learning about her.

But it’s so nice to know that she’s human. Just like me.

I agree with Heather! I am so sick of everyone trying to point out everything they *think* is wrong with Palin. My parents told me to abstain from sex and taught abstinence but it was my choice to decide to have sex or not, it does not reflect on the least as my mom as a parent she is a wonderful mother and raised me well just like Palin has done with her daughter. Being a parent means teaching right and wrong and values but you can’t make your child do what you teach them can you? just like you can sit there and tell your 9 year old talking back is not okay but that doesn’t mean they will stop right. So everyone just needs to quit trying to find any little fault they can with her and give the lady a chance. I think she is going to be a great VP

We all do the best we can to teach our children the values and beliefs we cherish.

There’s no reason to doubt that Sarah Palin did her best.

As the mother of grown-up kids, I can definitely tell you kids make their own choices. These choices often heartbreakingly bear little resemblance to the lessons we tried so mightily to teach.

I wonder how many of us could bear the scrutiny that these political families endure?

Although my post might sound judgmental, that wasn’t my intention. I agree that it’s up to us — parents — to educate our kids about sex (as Phil points out).

But if our next president decides to do away with sex education altogether — in place of abstinence-only education — I can’t help but wonder how many communities will see a rise in teen pregnancies. Remember the girls in Gloucester, MA?

Here’s what I said about that group of pregnant teens:
http://blogs.parentcenter.babycenter.com/momformation/2008/06/24/no-proof-that-pregnant-girls-in-gloucester-made-a-pact-does-it-matter/

P.S. For the record, I was raised by a Catholic mother who insisted I waited until I was married to have sex…

This shows what a hypocrite Palin is.

1. She asks for “privacy” for her daughter, and respect for her decision about what to do with her pregancy, since it is a “private family issue with no bearing on politics”. Yet Palin supports anti-abortion groups who are AGAINST privacy and private decisions by all pregnant women. And she thinks it is OK for these groups to harass women (some as young as her daughter) because they are visiting an abortion clinic. Apparently Palin only wants privacy for her daughter, but for all other women she thinks strangers and government should tell them what to do with their pregnancies!

2. Teen pregnancy doesn’t “just happen”. This is just a lie!!! It doesn’t happen nearly as much to teenagers who have access to contraception, and those who have had comprehensive sex ed. But these are things that Palin is against.

I have no respect for this woman.

I was pretty excited for a split second that John McCain had chosen a woman as his VP running mate. AWESOME! Then I read that she is hardline anti-abortion and hardline anti-gay marriage. So she lost my vote. Then, her 18 year old daughter is pregnant! Classic! That’s why preaching abstinence doesn’t work - and we should preach safe sex. But we all have different value structures, and thank God we CAN VOTE!!!

Heather, I could not have stated it better!!

I was pretty excited for a split second that John McCain had chosen a woman as his VP running mate. AWESOME! Then I read that she is hardline anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage. So she lost my vote. Then, her 18 year old daughter is pregnant! Classic! That’s why preaching abstinence doesn’t work - and we should preach safe sex. But we all have different value structures, and thank God we all have our own opinions and CAN VOTE!!!

My thoughts recently about Palin*:

1. It just keeps dawning on me, in a way that is “night before Christmasey” feeling. No matter what happens, in a few short months, a woman or a minority will be in one of the top two spots in our government. I cannot believe it happened so quickly. (Side thought: Historically, will this be considered a perverse “gift” of the horribly failed, devastating, Bush presidency?)

2. I think it is a squickish, most un-Feminist, anti-woman thing to speculate about Sarah Palin’s pregnancies, her daughter’s pregnancies, or any of their choices regarding the above. What goes on in either uterus is really just not. my. business.

3. I think it is wildly over simplistic to expect Palin’s teenage child (or anyone’s!) to be a shining example of her parenting philosophy or her political philosophy. We do the best we can as parents. Our children have their own lives and their own paths. Abstinence-Only education? Inherently flawed and objectively a poor policy to advocate. But an example of bad parenting? Nah, I hope nobody holds all my children’s mistakes against me, or mine against my parents.

* (I am a lifelong proud LIBERAL, an avowed LEFTIST and I would never vote for a Republican. Just for the record).

Abstinence education is total folly..it’s like telling kids not to drink before they turn 21, it has the opposite effect.

Teaching safe sex is more effective. I one step further and make condoms and birth control freely available to everyone who wants it. I also think parents need to have a MUCH stronger voice during the sex ed process.

I haven’t researched Palin’s politics, but if she’s anti-gay and anti-abortion I def wouldn’t vote for her (not that I was voting red anyway). Her lack of politcal experience on any broad scale is also alarming, I don’t see how she could be an effective VP.

“So how about that abstinence-only education?”

For the religious right, it isn’t about whether abstinence-only education works. It’s about being “right.” For them, Bristol Palin’s pregnancy is proof that abstinence-only is the way to go. This is a big win in the eyes of the abstinence-only crowd. See what happens if
you don’t stay abstinent? We told you so.

Dora: Interesting point. But weren’t the Palin folks raising their daughter to be abstinent until marriage? If they were teaching her about sex, condoms, etc… I’d be very surprised.

I believe that Palin probably didn’t have a lot of control over the decision her daughter made. BUT, saying that McCain’s decision to nominate her as VP just pushed me off the fence to Obama’s side. I will probably get “yelled” at for this, but she is a mother to 5 children. I believe a woman can do it all and be whatever she wants, but she lost my respect when I hear she took a 3 day maternity leave after her last son was born with downs syndrome. I also do not believe in her ultra-conservative approaches on abortion and gay/lesbain issues. I do not believe she is the right woman for this and I believe she needs to spend a little more time at home with her children.

It is apparent to me that you do not understand the “no sex until marriage” thought and beliefs. Your statement “another holier than thou abstinence only GOP family” is quite telling. Your statement has the tone of anger, resentment and sarcasm showing that you do not understand the depth of love and sense of protection for our young people and single people of all ages when one holds this belief.
I have raised my son with this belief and it has given him a much keener insight into what is important and sacred to intimate relationships. In this society that has reduced sex to an activity, he sees managed hurt guys and girls and the realization of the intense pain that comes from having sex for pleasure. It is not that those of us who believe in saving sex for marriage, the most intimate interaction a man and woman can have, are “holier than thou”. We simply understand that when a man and woman save this special gift for their husband/wife, sex becomes more than an act of pleasure (although it remains this as well); but a deep commitment to each other they maintained long before they met each other. There is something quite powerful knowing that the man (or woman) you are marrying said “no” to many temptations in order to say “yes” to you only. Wow, now that is committed love.
I hope some day you will understand that because there are people who hold beliefs that you can’t relate to are simply just people just like you trying to achieve what you want….a deeply committed relationship that will remain constant and true one’s life through.
Abstinence until marriage is more than just about no sex, it is an entire value system that runs deep to the spiritual people that we are rising above the immediate moment and recognizing that we have greater ability than all other creation to seek love and commit to love that will sustain a relationship through the ups and downs of life. Many of the remarks I’ve read on this blog seem to carry some misunderstanding of this value. It is committing not just to another person, but to yourself and to God that you are creating a life in the future, now, while you wait for the person you marry. It is quite an amazing way to respect others you are in relationship along th way.
God bless all of you bloggers today and seek the Truth and you will not come up empty.

Like some have mentioned here, Bristol’s pregnancy becomes an “issue” because of her mother’s abstinence-only stance. If that is what she’s proposing to have in our public schools, funded by my tazxdollars, then we need to look at that. As Elizabeth points out, it’s more than “no sex” — and I, as a parent, want to be the one to address the other issues Elizabeth brings up, not my kid’s school.

That said, what’s also important is the statement that daddy-to-be Levi declared on his MySpace: “I don’t want kids.” OK, now what? Please stop by my blog today and add your comments to my thoughts about that.

I think that Palin makes bad decisions. Sure her daughter did, but she is a teenager.

Palin started leaking amniotic fluid before a speach in TX. Did she go to the hospital? No, did she go after the speach, no. Did she fly all the way home which is more than an 8 hour commercial flight? In LABOR? Yes. Then drove more than an hour to a hospital outSIDE of Anchorage. Knowing this baby was already special needs and was coming early.

Does that seem like rational thinking to you?

Does forcing 2 teenagers into the biggest shotgun wedding in HISTORY seem like a good decision? Every freaking Repub across the country is holding that gun at them. And they (well at least HE) DOESNT want to get married!

Nope, not liking her decision making process at all. Let alone her uber religious views that she apparently thinks should be law.

Oh, another decision that pissed me off. Why in the HELL would she let her son show his face on public television at the RNC? He is deploying next week and she just may have made him a target.

Even the Royal Family is smart enough to know not to publicize when the boys are deploying and WHERE.

@Elizabeth: Wanted to comment. I respect your passion and articulate response, but I have to express a nearly opposite perspective. Sex is not a gift. It’s a need, at a basic level, that all humans have and seek. At our core, we are merely animals that procreate, seek pleasure, and seek emotions. Putting such a weighty spiritual and emotional attachment to sex is risky to the health of any relationship should the sex turn out to be mediocre, or the couples turn out to be physically incompatible, which happens often. Plus, why? Sex is great, but it’s not the be all and end all.

Let me put this another way. Once you have sex with enough partners, you start to realize sex is not such a big deal, we all have the same tools, we’re all wired for pleasure, and there are other vastly more important things in life, things that are worth higher amounts of spiritual and emotional capital.

That Magazine Cover looks like the Flogging Adams Family. Scary as hell.

From a family science perspective - Sarah Palin needs to be home caring for her special needs child, and her daughter that needs her right now. What we do not need, is her telling the rest of us to what we should be doing with our bodies and our families. She is a hypocrite of the highest order.

@Nancy,Elizabeth, & Single Mom in New England: Could not agree more! Also,I read yesterday that this woman (Palin) went back to work less than a WEEK after giving birth to a special needs child. I believe it was an editorial by Kristen Powers. Also, it’s just scary that Palin is okay with making abortion illegal even in the case of RAPE or INCEST. As a teenager, I was able to have open discussions with my mom about sex. I really believe that because of this, I wanted no part of being a mom as a teenager (even though I was sexually active as a teen). But again, my mom wanted to make sure that if I was going to be active, I was protecting myself. Open communication works!

I believe if she doesn’t have things at home taken care of…she has no business sacrificing her time for public service. As a child, it sucks knowing that you’re are about to enter a difficult stage of your life and your parents are there enough to devote the amount of time and attention required.

FYI. Found this site from a friend.. and I love it.