Choosing Love

Again and again we have seen the stark differences between the outlooks and views of the candidates of the two major parties. None have been more clearly enunciated than the positions of Barack Obama and Sarah Palin, regarding the possibility of a young daughter’s pregnancy.

Sen. Obama gave a speech in Pennsylvania in March 2008, in which he addressed the topic of AIDS. During the speech, he made the following remarkable statement:

“But it should also include — it should also include other, you know, information about contraception because, look, I’ve got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”

Compare that to what Gov. Palin has said about the news of her 17-year-old daughter’s pregnancy:

“As [she] faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.” … “Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family.”

What a wonderful response from someone to whom an unexpected baby is neither a disaster nor a punishment. What a wonderful lesson Bristol and other girls can learn from this response. Yes, it will be difficult, yes, there will be challenges, but we are family and we love and support you.

And what a breath-taking difference between that and Sen. Obama’s remarks! Obama will teach his daughters the values and morals of a father who feels that an unexpected baby is a mistake and a punishment. What lesson will his two girls take from his words? Will they wonder if Mom and Dad thought about aborting them? Will they wonder if they might have had a sister or brother who was removed because he or she would have been inconvenient? Words come back to haunt us, and Sen. Obama’s words are coming back now to haunt him. It is possible that they may come back again and again as his daughters mature in to young women and have choices of their own to make. Let’s hope they learn as much from Gov. Palin as they have from their own father.

More thoughts, from a blogger and his family who have walked in those very shoes.

Stoutcat