It seems Sarah Palin's 17 year old daughter Bristol Palin is pregnant, and unmarried. Yes, Bristol is having the baby, so they aren't going against the abortion issue - and yes, Bristol plans to marry the father.
The hypocrisy comes when the Republican Party suggests teenagers should abstain from sex. In an article by the Boston Globeit seems 1/3 of the women under 20 get pregnant in the US. This is the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the industrialized world and we have the worst sex education - a focus on abstinence.
It isn't working... McCain voted against a bill by Hilary Clinton which would have provided $100 to fight teen pregnancy.
Why does this irritate me so much, especially since my own situation 28 years ago (Aric was conceived prior to Eddie and I getting married)? Getting married, having children at an early age is difficult. We lived through it, but it wasn't easy. We were extremely fortunate to have support of our parents (as is Bristol). But many teenage mothers don't - and societies ostracizing of these women (because of their low moral conduct) doesn't help.
Teenagers are goingto have sex. Trying to teach them abstinence doesn't work. Teach them about contraceptives does along with an in-depth approach to the hows and whys of sex. Norway has the most robust sex education program in the industrialized world (starting at age 7 in most schools) and they have both the lowest teenage pregnancy rate and the lowest rate of STD's.
OH... and they have socialized medicine. They got it right. It's not just the parents role, but the role of the entire society to help the youth grow up to be healthy and happy - and make the right decisions.
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