Remember this? That classy Dr. Lalonde, worrying Sarah Palin might cause fewer abortions? Well, this might too, and that’s why I gladly post it. (Sarah Palin address for the 2009 Idaho Special Olympics.)
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izn63SHXPMw]
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Rebecca adds: What incredible grace. I understand how people can disagree with her politics. What I can’t fathom is the intense personal hostility so many expressed towards a woman who lives her values, no matter how difficult they may be, no matter how much easier a quick “solution” to a baby with DS or a pregnant teenage daughter would be. That’s admirable in anybody. If the Obamas or Bidens or any other big-government, post-modern squishy politicians on the left bore equal burdens with equal grace, I hope I would respect them for it, no matter how much I might abhor their political agenda.
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Andrea adds: Some disagreed with her politics, and on fair terms. Others had a visceral hostility because she made them feel bad (for being stronger). All those women who abort because of Downs–she tells them “you were wrong” without saying it. One last point–it is strong women who don’t abort, but I’d wager that most every woman can be that strong. Just one more reason why I think people working in abortion clinics are preying on a moment of despair and fear.
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Brigitte says: Joe Biden lost his wife and baby daughter in 1972 (car accident). He then raised his sons as a single dad, commuting every day from Washington D.C. to be with them as much as possible, for a few years before marrying Jill Tracy Jacobs in 1977. I am not a fan of Joe Biden, not at all. I dislike his politics, and I find him phoney and ridiculous (FDR on television after the Crash, remember that one?). But he didn’t give up even though he was tempted, and raised his children as best he could.
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I am betting that those 90% who abort babies with an extra chromosome cannot bear to watch this. I believe in showing them compassion, but at the same time I hope their conscience at least gives them a pang of moral realization and regret.
Love the special olympics hockey mom line!
I also appreciate the perspective you took on Obama’s special olympics comments as I am sick of PC self-censorship and freakouts. It is absolutely maddening on the other hand though. If Palin (or Bush or Harper or anyone on the alleged right-wing) had made that joke, I am pretty certain about what the media/political response and outrage would be.
Sarah Palin has accomplished everything that the women’s movement has as its aims for women, but she did it solo, and she did it without being an in-your-face feminist. I think that is why the intense dislike and the personal attacks on this woman.
She does show by her life, and sometimes with her words, that the best things in life are love and family, honesty and integrity, and these things are done “with a servant’s heart” – that servant’s heart is what feminists cannot abide, since the other way is “me first”.
i think people are quick to generalize and accuse feminists of not liking Palin because of her personal life. I don’t care about Palin’s personal life. I did criticize her lack of knowledge on domestic and foreign affairs and the decisions she made as governor and mayor that were detrimental for women. Like when she made it a policy to charge rape victims for their own rape kits all in the name of being a good fiscal conservative. It seems that anything promoting or benefiting women is too costly or taxing for conservatives. And it says a lot that women who have abortions are basically being called cowards here…
Careful there, JR. I never called women who have abortions cowards. I am saying that in a moment of fear and despair it’s easy to think abortion is the only answer. If into that desperate moment a person or group of people stepped in and offered money, companionship or whatever was required to help instead of abortion, women would be empowered to choose life for their unborn children. I find little fault with women caught in desperate moments. I find a lot of fault with abortion providers, though, who offer “easy” ways out.
There is also a movement from those who are pro-abortion to make those who have abortions into heroes. (see things like this: http://www.examiner.com/x-3108-Baltimore-Republican-Examiner~y2009m3d24-Bioethicist-call-for-an-Abortion-Pride-Movement ) And I would say it actually requires more courage to keep a baby. And that is my bigger point: It is courageous to keep a baby in less than ideal circumstances and we ought to celebrate that.