Palin On Abortion: I'd Oppose Even If My Own Daughter Was Raped

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."

At the time, her daughter was 14 years old. Moreover, Alaska's rape rate was an abysmal 2.2 times above the national average and 25 percent of all rapes resulted in unwanted pregnancies. But Palin's position was palatable within the state's largely Republican political circles.

Now that she's John McCain's vice presidential candidate, Palin's abortion policy (among others) is undergoing renewed scrutiny. The Alaska Republican has long declared herself pro-life. And her credentials on the topic make her the belle of the ball among religious conservatives. But Democrats and abortion rights advocates say her stance, specifically her unwillingness to grant her own child a choice to end a pregnancy induced by rape, is drastically at odds with public opinion -- even among many Republicans.

"This is absolutely outside the mainstream. Even in South Dakota they rejected [outlawing abortion in cases of rape] in '06 because it has gone too far and everyone can identify that in a case of rape or incest a woman should have the chance to make the decision with their family or doctor," said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro Choice America. "Women voters are going to reject both her and John McCain, and I think we see it specifically because we reach out to Republicans and independent pro-choice women. They live in the suburbs and exurbs. They are very much part of the mainstream America. And woman in general will reject that ticket."

Palin makes no secret of her abortion views. A member of the group Feminists for Life, she told the Alaska Right to Life Board in 2002 that she "adamantly supported our cause since I first understood, as a child, the atrocity of abortion." In an Eagle Forum Alaska questionnaire filled out during the 2006 gubernatorial race, Palin again stated that she is against abortion unless a doctor determined that a mother's life would end due to the pregnancy.

"I believe that no matter what mistakes we make as a society," she wrote, "we cannot condone ending an innocent's life."

But it's not just abortion policy that has Democrats up in arms over Palin. In that same 2006 questionnaire, the soon-to-be governor said she would fund abstinence-only education programs in schools. "The explicit sex-ed programs," she added, "will not find my support." The stance, which reflected the priorities of the GOP, nevertheless led to an incredulous editorial in the Juneau Empire.

"Abstinence may be a laudable goal, but failing to educate teenagers about how to protect themselves from disease or unintended pregnancy is tragically misguided. According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, abstinence-only programs do not reduce sexual activity, teen pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease. Every day 10,000 U.S. teens contract a sexually transmitted disease, 2,400 get pregnant and 55 contract HIV. Unintended pregnancies happen to Republicans, Democrats and people of all faiths."

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."

Comments

[mariegachelin]

12:21 PM on 10/01/2008

I support and understand Governor Palin’s stand on pro-life. Nonetheless, there are boundaries.

Rape and incest are crimes. When we debate the abortion issue and throw in rape and incest, we play down the violence of rape, devalue victims and send the wrong message to the victims. That is irresponsible.

Society has an obligation to urge victims of rape and incest to seek immediate help so they can be examined and be treated for any injuries that they may have as a result of the violence be screened for sexually transmitted diseases and for emergency contraception to help prevent pregnancy and to report the crime. Anything less, adds more injury to the victim and minimizes the crime.

[KitWit]

10:48 AM on 09/30/2008

Forcing a rape victim to bear a child may cause the mother to commit suicide. That is putting the mother's life at risk. It would be impossible for a rape victim to get past the crime if she is forced to relive it daily for 9 months while being pregnant, going to ultrasounds, and whatnot. Then what...force the 11-year-old victim to raise her child? Or give it up for adoption - another situation the mother never intended to be put in.

To say an 11-ear-old girl who was raped by her perverted daddy should have a baby is heinous. If there is a hell, Palin is going there. SHE is the antichrist.

[dutch163]

06:00 PM on 09/28/2008

palin would choose life even if her own daughter were raped
but what would the daughter choose?
I am not pro abortion, but I am pro choice
and my stance changed after I had a nightmare that my young daughter was raped

[sosophie37]

07:44 PM on 09/27/2008

well, thats a tough one..but if my mom knew befor i was born that i was going to be hell, she wouldnt hve had me. i WAS mistake, actually.. she wasnt raped, but yeah.

and if abortions become illegal, do you think that means people are going to have sex with people AFTER marriage? the ONLY thing its going to change is the population of abused, and kids that are left behind. and you dont have to "know" how to use a condom for it not to break. and it doesnt have to be a "cheap" condom for it to break. stuff happens.

i see what your saying about not having to worry about sex until after marriage.. but thats REALLY not what its like in reality. the legal sex age is 16. not a lot of people are going to meat someone at 16, and know for a fact that they're going to marry them. they WILL have sex and they CAN make mistakes. they SHOULD have the right to correct there mistakes.

[sosophie37]

08:40 PM on 09/25/2008

so just because teens decided to have sex at a young age, they should be punished and have to go through the process of being pregnant? TEENS get RAPED too! it's nto because they're ignorant and having SEX... they got RAPED they don't want to have to go through pregnancy so young! no one deserves that!

its legal to have sex in massachusetts at age 16. what if the condom broke? thats not their fault!
it's not like they aren't being careful of what they're doing! it was a MISTAKE. this would be like saying "a married couple cannot get divorced" if a married couple did not like the idea of being married, and wanted to move on with their lives, they could say so. they have the option of what goes on in their lives, and who is going to be in their lives.

[Doubleduece09]

11:36 PM on 09/25/2008

I agree wholehearted on the rape thing, but i have one question: If your mother was raped and outcome was you, would you have wanted her to abort you because she was raped? Also if u got raped and became pregnant you never now what that child may bring to the world. Besides, if you had sex outside of marriage and got pregnant because the condom broke that's just to bad because: 1) don't buy cheap condoms and know how to use them properly 2)you shouldn't have sex with anyone that you're not planning on spending your whole life with, 3) you could have been a broken condom too, and your parents just didn't tell you( not saying you are it's just food for thought), and 4) if you don't have sex until you're married, you wouldn't have to worry about that when you become pregnant.

[Doubleduece09]

11:37 PM on 09/25/2008

I'm not saying your opinion is wrong

[sosophie37]

08:31 PM on 09/25/2008

and yeah... plenty of couples could make the decision of keeping a child from rape - that's THEIR decision.

there's plenty of bad neighborhoods in this country. not everywhere in america is the best place to raise a child. Plenty of children that were born from their raped mother grow up and become VERY insecure. the majority of america is flat BROKE. the other percentage is rich. the broke envy the wealthy. the broke cannot afford good places to live. the broke cannot afford to grow up, and become successful; there's a very slight chance of them getting a decent education. our population would go up SO high, that the population of the poor would get even bigger. kids shouldnt have to grow up like that.

[sosophie37]

08:21 PM on 09/25/2008

i am 14 years old, and i know that if i was a pregnant 16 year-old who just found out she was pregnant, i would not be happy. i would be having a baby with a guy who i'm probably not even going to get married to. i would NOT be ready to commit to taking care of a child. i think that all girls should have the right to do what's best for their child. they cant bring a child into the world, and not know what to do with it. not all girls can bare the thought of putting their baby up for adoption... some girls do make the choice of putting their baby up for adoption, and that's because that's what they think would be best for their child. a lot of girls are emotionally unstable, and would not be able to take care of their child, and themselves. carrying around a baby in their stomach for 9 months isn't exactly the best thing if the girl is emotionally unstable. it can do damage to the baby, getting into fits.

i just dont think that this is right.

[sosophie37]

08:21 PM on 09/25/2008

so, the only reason i made an account for this is just to comment this one article.
this cannot happen. i don't know about the majority of girls who would kill themselves if they got pregnant; I know i would feel like killing myself, being an emotional girl not having the choice of an abortion. i know that A LOT of girls-even teenagers [like myself] would freak out about this. It just hits them that they have a baby on the way, and out of shock, or being overwhelmed, a scared teenager might not take her first idea of being pregnant very well. They know it was a total mistake, and they know that they cant get rid of the baby. They know that they cannot deal with taking care another life, or suffer knowing the fact that they have to give their baby up for adoption because they cannot take care of it themselves. Having a baby isn't always a good thing - it can ruin a girl's life at such a young age. i know some people might not understand abortions, but it's a risk that a lot of girls would be willing to take.

[rbeato]

06:12 PM on 09/22/2008

Sarah Palin is a women who sticks with what is right. Life if life no matter how it was concieved . Rape is a terrible thing. But two wrongs never make a right. Plenty of couples would be able to love this child of rape even if the women involved didn't feel like she could. The trama of the abortion clinic would last much much longer than the nine months of pregancy would. Most women who have abortions suffer emotional distress that last for years to come. (But no one ever talks about that ... It would not be condusive to keeping the abortion money machine rolling.) At least at the end of a rape pregnancy you would have no doubt that you did the right thing. Protecting the life of the innocent is always the right thing!!!

[doreeno7]

05:56 PM on 09/22/2008

I agree 100% with Gov. Palin. If you were raped their is no law that says you need to keep your baby you can put the child up for adoption. This not only has to do with women that get raped; even ignorant teens right now are having sex and then they decide they want an abortion because they are too young to be parents but yet they weren't young enough to have sex right? Doctors grant their decision for an abortion and they don't even need to let their parents know (how insane is that) Abortion is wrong you are taking away a life. Being raped is not anything to joke about, but if a baby comes into the picture why take their life they can be put up for adoption where someone would care and love them. Schools now pass comdoms out to students because they think it will stop the spreading of diseases and pregnancies (we all know contraseptives are not 100%). First of all the parents should be the ones to talk to their kids not teachers. Parents these days are not teaching their kids like they should be because they are too busy with their own lifes.

[cheeseit43]

06:26 PM on 09/17/2008

It never ceases to amaze me how ignorant this woman is. Let alone this:

" Granting exceptions only if the mother's life was in danger, Palin said that when it came to her daughter, "I would choose life." "

WHY ON EARTH does she continue to take away her OWN daughter's right to choose if she wants the baby! She continually talks as if it is HER decision whether or not her daughter keeps her baby. The poor girl probably has to keep this baby just to keep her mother's reputation. It just sickens me.

[getouttheINFORMEDvote]

01:17 PM on 09/15/2008

So what parental rights does Palin think rapists should have?

Since convicted felons don't automatically lose parental rights presumably any rapist could decide he wants to be part of his child's life. Even if convicted rapists lost all parental rights, women would have to report, charge, and get a successful convictions of their rapists to protect themselves from their rapists re-entering their lives.

Allowing such a nightmare situation for raped women certainly goes right along with Palin's claims to be a new leader for women's rights.

[patianneb]

09:07 AM on 09/10/2008

Mayor Palin's appointed Police Chief CHARGED VICTIMS FOR THEIR OWN RAPE KIT. During the first four years of Palin's tenure as mayor of Wasilla, sexual assault victims had to pay for their own medical exams, until Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles signed legislation ending the practice in 2000. Palin was mayor of Wasilla from 1996 to 2002.

While this election is about things far more IMPORTANT than HER, this is what she does when she has some power.

[ddevonb]

11:41 PM on 09/09/2008

In this article Mr. Stein stated "Moreover, Alaska's rape rate was an abysmal 2.2 times above the national average and 25 percent of all rapes resulted in unwanted pregnancies."

Either Mr. Stein is very ignorant or he is outright lying. Rape is a random act. Rapes resulting in pregnancy are much rarer than 25%.

If the 25% figure was true, perhaps in situations where married couples are having difficulty getting pregnant their fertility doctor might well suggest the man rape his wife.

I, of course am not suggesting such a preposterous thing. I'm just pointing out the ridiculousness of Mr. Stein's claim.

[canow]

03:26 PM on 09/09/2008

We linked to this in our post "Why Sarah Palin is Bad for American Women" at the CA NOW blog: http://www.canow.org/canoworg/2008/09/why-sarah-palin.html