Ruth Marcus takes Sarah Palin at her word on the abortion issue and finds in her story a strong defense of a woman’s right to choose. Palin, of course, decided not to have an abortion when she became pregnant at age 44 with a Down syndrome child. She decided to keep the baby — a decision she made but that in her public statements she would deny others.
As Marcus writes,
I respect Palin’s decision not to “make it all go away.” She describes her doubts about whether she had the fortitude and patience to cope with a child with Down syndrome, and, with the force of a mother’s fierce love, the special blessing that Trig has brought to her life. She speaks as someone who is confident that she made the correct choice.
For her. In fact, the overwhelming majority of couples choose to terminate pregnancies when prenatal testing shows severe abnormalities. In cases of Down syndrome, the abortion rate is as high as 90 percent.
For the crowd listening to her at last week’s dinner, Palin’s disclosure served the comfortable role of moral reinforcement: She wavered in her faith, was tempted to sin, regained her strength and emerged better for it.
As for those us less certain that we know, or are equipped to instruct others, when life begins and when it is permissible to terminate a pregnancy, Palin’s speech offered a different lesson: Abortion is a personal issue and a personal choice. The government has no business taking that difficult decision away from those who must live with the consequences.
Hank Kalet 