The right to make a different choice
Regarding Senator McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate:
- My nonagenarian aunt asked what I thought of "The Eskimo Governor". (Which answers the question of whether she's still mentally sharp.)
- It's a personal decision for a woman, when prenatal screening reveals a serious health issue like Downs Syndrome, whether to abort. While I would have made a different choice, I strongly support the right of women to make their own reproductive choices.
- What's scary is that Ms. Palin believes women should NOT have those choices.
- The NYT is reporting that McCain hoped to nominate Joe Lieberman instead, or maybe Tom Ridge. Because both men support reproductive rights, religious conservatives apparently threatened a floor flight if either was nominated.
- Worth reading: this BBC article, which explains the story of Palin's pregnant daughter in the context of the US's sky-high teen pregnancy rate (compared to the developed world), and does its best to explain "abstinence-only" indoctrination to a European audience.
- I can't help thinking back to age 17 -- my own immaturity, that of my classmates, and how terribly equipped any of us were for parenthood at that age. My classmates who gave birth in high school -- hmm, their kids are in high school now. Wow.
