Sarah Palin Deals with Teen Pregnancy and Makes a Wise Choice

I applaud her. I think that her attitude of acceptance is the best way to combat abortion — a choice teens I grew up with made b/c they were afraid their parents would “kill” them.

But you would hope that the people who are making the decisions about our kids would guide their own kids toward make good decisions. If abstinence is the only answer, then you would also hope that it would work in the homes of the people who are pushing this program.

I think it also makes you wonder who is watching and taking care of their kids???

With such a busy mom, she likely isn’t able to be as involved in their lives as she should. Is dad filling that role? Between his racing and commercial fishing business, it doesn’t seem that likely.

As their lives get even busier on the campaign trail, you have to wonder about how they will travel, do their jobs, and care for their special needs child and pregnant teen daughter and other kids.

Are you a parent of a 17 yo? I wonder because watching a 17yo isn’t holding her hand 24/7. That’s just impossible.

I am a parent of 3 teens. parenting IS 24/7! politics aside, I worry about a woman who left her baby to go back to work when he was less then a week old. Some moms haven’t a choice but she could afford it. That poor teen is going to need her mom now more than ever. I don’t understand how she can attend both her growing family and the campain trail. If she is the right woman for this country than she will still be right in a few years , she is still young. Thank you for letting me speak my mind.

Would ANY of these comments be made if her HUSBAND was running for VP and not her?

How judgemental we women are of other women.

How very sad.

Reminder to everyone, including those whose posts have been deleted: Be on topic. Sarah Palin is not the overall topic, read the questions in the post. Nasty comments on her character will not be tolerated – stay on topic.

I think Sarah Palin made a choice on behalf of her family’s needs. I just wish she leaves the rest of us alone to do the same. Our daughters deserve to know how their bodies work and deserve the protection of other birth control methods in addition to abstinence.

Abby, I agree to a point. That is what I want my daughter to learn, she has choices and I teach her what they are. I don’t want this taught at school however, as the teacher who would be teaching it does not belong to my family and does not have our family values.

Can you just imagine what Bristol Palin has already gone through, having to face the nation knowing that she and her unborn baby would soon be the subject of a national controversy? Can you imagine what she will yet have to go through yet, as the media scrutinizes every move she makes? No 17-year-old should have to bring a child into the world under that kind of pressure. I’m glad that Sarah Palin has made the decision to support her child with unconditional love, but I’m sorry that she thought the best way to do it was to focus the eyes of the free world upon her daughter. The loving thing to do would have been to decline the VP spot.

I was a pregnant teen and had my 1st daughter when I was 17. I had no support from my family or daughter’s dad (now my husband 8 years later). I am now 32 and she is 15. We teach absenece in our home but we now better than most how easy it is to become teenage parents. If I could do it all over again the only thing I’d change is the lack of support from my parents. and if my daughter came to us with this issue, you bet we would be supportive and loving 100%.

I don’t want the first female VP of my country to portray that of a mother with a teenage daughter. She could potentially be in a position as a role model for all American young ladies. Is that a role I want my daughter to emulate? Heck no. I would prefer America’s first female VP to be someone that all girls can aspire to become on all aspects. We have enough unwed teen moms behind the scenes than to have one directly in the public eye. Shame on Sarah Palin for accepting the nomination!

I think Palin’s choice to run is actually a wonderful thing as a role model for our kids. First it shows that you can have a family and a career. I have heard comments “what kind of mohter is she how can she have time for the kids”, but we never say that of the husband. I think she is flying in the face of the double standard. As a person I admire the determination she has had in her life. Every woman has a choice to be what they want to be and having kids shouldn’t impede that choice.

While I agree the work/life balance can be difficult, the reality is that I am tired of being considered a “bad” mom because I chose to work.

As for her having a pregnant teen, that does not make her a bad mom. That makes her a mom facing a difficult problem. Its one faced by more parents again (teen pregnancy rate had gone down). One thing I know, teaching abstinence alone won’t work. The girls I knew who had teen sex, were practicing catholics whose parents refused to talk to them about sex. They preached abstinence and it didn’t work.

My daughter has decided to not have sex till she is married (so she says at age 14 having not yet kissed a boy). I am very happy to encourage that. I think that is great. However, I make sure she understands that if she does break the vow, she protect herself not just from pregnancy, but also from desease. A girl(or boy) in love beleives their partner in every way shape and form. I am smart enough to know that not only do partners lie, change minds, etc, they don’t always know what the partner before gave them. So while abstinence is always first choice, reality is that is not how life works.

Palin is proving to people that although the situation is not optimal, she will get throught it with her daughter. Obama has proven his worth by stating that a pregnant teen is should not be a campaign victim. I think for once the candidates are “behaving” as they should. Showing that real life exists, but they are doing what is best for themselves and those around them.

There’s a show Gilmore girls, the path I took was not the one I would recommend, but where I ended up was worth it, is somewhat how the opening line goes. So while not all paths are easy or the ones we would freely choose, how we deal with the bumps and curves on the path (even the mistakes that make us stray) are what in the end makes life worthwhile.

What does it matter if her daughter is pregnant, you ask how she can raise her growing family, but is it really her responsibility to take care of her grandchild. I do agree that she should love and support her daugher but her daughter should be the one to raise her own child. I don’t think she should have to delay her career because of one mistake that her daughter made.

Whooo! Check out your history. We have had several (or more) male politicians that have crossed the line. Soon their misconduct was forgotten. I admire Sen.Oboma saying ‘leave the children’ out of politics. As far as Sarah Palin running I admire her for making sacrafices for the good of her county. As an older grandmother with young teenage grandchildren, I shiver at the temptations that are in this world today. God bless Sarah for supporting her daughter, who will learn soon enough, that she just happen to make a wrong choice and will have to live with it. If you have children and/or grandchildren who have not made wrong choices at sometime, you are truly Blessed.

There is a lot of teenage pregnancy these days. It can’t be brushed under the carpet, and also it can happen in any family. I have friends whom stayed at home and reared their kids themselves who have ended up with their teenage daughter pregnant, so we can not blame working parents.I am from Northern Ireland but believe Barack Obama made a good choice in choosing Sarah Palin.

I agree that Sarah’s daughter made the right choice in not choosing abortion. However, I don’t think a mother of five children should be running for vice president. The fact that her daughter got pregnant proves that Sarah, like so many working mothers often do, let her work priorities overshadow her parenting priorities. I am a Christian and it seems that too many of us are focusing on Pro-Life more than we’re focusing on the Ten Commandments and putting God first in our lives in ALL things that we do. I think that if Sarah would’ve concentrated more on seeking what God wants in her life rather than what she wants, she wouldn’t be in the position that she’s in, politically or as a parent.

I agree with Susan Adcox, Sarah Palin should have declined the VP spot, knowing her teen was pregnant. Not to mention just having a down’s baby 4 months earlier. It’s going to take even more time to bond with him and now she’ll have less. Who’s feeding the children? I have 3 kids, 18, 15, and 12 and I still make homemade meals, lunches, snacks, and spend hours at the grocery. I talk to them EVERYDAY in person and it takes TIME. Palin was already set, in the Governor’s mansion in Alaska, she could have kept her daughter’s pregnancy a private matter, how can she possibly be there for her now, the VP position will have to come first. NO salary in the world replaces a hug from your mom when you need it.

I think the key word in all you wrote is CHOICE. The fact that each individual woman has a choice is what this country is founded on. I am not pro-abortion, but I am pro-choice. I would support my teen in whatever decision she made. The fact that we as women have a choice is what I treasure about our country. THink of the women in the MIddle East who have NO choices..are we really willing to give up our freedoms as women?

It is not about her daughter and as Obama said with such integrity, leave the children out of the polictics, with that being said had the role been reverse we would have been focusing on that issue.She is not ready to be VP, poor choice and she should have decline the nomination, not experience enough, should his health fail if he gets in office she is not ready to be commander in chief.

By reading these comments I can tell a republican from a democrat. As a stay home mom, I can tell you that is not based on money, but character. Some parents are better parents when they work, and some are parents that mentally can afford to stay home. I admired Mrs. Palin, and we should not throw stones. Any of our teenagers can get pregnant, no matter how much we stressed about abstinence, or how hard we supervised them.

ISN’T GREAT SHE HAD A CHOICE? THIS IS WHY “CHOICE” IS SO VERY IMPORTANT. IT JUST AMAZES ME THAT ALL OF A SUDDEN TEEN PREGNACY IS AN ACCEPTABLE THING… WHAT ABOUT THE THOUSAND OF MINORITY TEENS WHO MAKE THIS SAME MISTAKE EVERYDAY… DO WE NOW PRAISE THEM OR DO WE CONTINUE TO CALL THEM IRRESPONSIBLE? IN ADDITION, I THINK WE ARE PUTTING TOO MUCH ATTENTION ON THIS YOUNG LADY. TOO MUCH ATTENTION MIGHT JUST GLORIFY TEEN PREGNACY ESPECIALLY SINCE SO MANY CONSERVATIVES ARE AGAINST SEX EDUCATION IN OUR SCHOOLS – SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE. AND YES, I AGREE WITH SENATOR OBAMA, FAMILIES SHOULD BE OFF LIMIT, BUT WHO BROUGHT TO THIS EVERYONE’S ATTENTION – HER FAMILY. NOW THAT THIS IS OUT, THIS POTENTIAL VICE PRESIDENT OF THESE UNITED STATES, SHOULD COME FORTH AS AN ADVOCATE FOR SEX EDUCATION IN OUR SCHOOLS – THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO ASSURE THAT THESE TYPES OF MISTAKES OR BAD CHOICES DOES NOT HAPPEN AGAIN… GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!

I would of done the same a Sarah. I would love my daughters unconditionally. I have told them so, while going into what happens when having sex. So as parents we talk, inform our children and hope and pray they make the right choices. It is life and we don’t always get what we want. I support how their family is handling it. On that note, I am voting for Obama, and am very glad he has come out to say “Families are off limits, manily the children”

The notion that anyone – male or female – can have it all is a fairy tale. Any father or mother that puts their career over family puts that family at risk. Raising children requires being present in that child’s life – building a real authentic relationship that supports and nurtures that child. Anyone with a demanding, travel filled career is giving up that relationship. Saying you will support and unconditionally love your children doesn’t mean squat unless you’re there to show it. Again – not a gender issue – there are plenty of fathers who have no real relationship with their children because of their careers. Everyone loses.

Joan, I agree whole heartedly, its about having a relationship with your children.

Sunset, your point on those who are better mom’s working vs. being is fantastic.

My friend is a stay at home mom and I work. I made a choice to work, she made the choice to be home. She used to think a working mom is not a good mom, till she saw me with my daughter. I was a horrible mom when I stayed home, I was sad, bored and anxious. I was also a horrible wife. In a family, the happiness of the parents is as important as the needs of the kids.

My daughter is 14 now. We just spent a weeks vacation in Virignia Beach, the three of us. My daughter never once complained about not having her friends there, she enjoyed spending time her parents, did complain about boredom at dinner. Her only complaint, Daddy didn’t swim in the ocean with her (he is not a water person). We all went shopping and had meals together and hung out, she was happy. How many 14yo’s can you say would hang with mom and dad, not be embarassed or give attitude. So for all that I am a working mom, I know all my daughter’s friends, I even have some cell numbers, I talk to my daughter all the time, I monitor her computer use and even pretend to be interested (most of the time) in some of the BS she talks about.

Its not about working, its not about a job that pulls you away, its not about giving up the life you want to be mom. Its about trying to balance everything. And I hope those who are throwing stones as Susan Palin saying she is a bad mom letting her teen daughter get pregnant never have to go through it yourselves. I was the first teen with my mom’s friend’s where we lived and I was not a good teen. One of the women would talk about me all the time, the things I did, but she shut up real quick when her kids did most of the same things that I had done.

Anyone who thinks that just being home really keeps teens out of trouble, has no idea what life is really like.

Maybe I wouldn’t make the same choices as Susan, but being the wife of a politician is work too and the President’s wife does a lot of traveling, etc and I never saw anyone criticize the first Lady for neglecting the kids or putting them on “display”. Cause she wasn’t going to have the “job”, but being first lady is a “job” too.

Oh and CHOICE is always important. My MIL passed recently, she was a christian, abortion was a sin, her family was raised christian, her daughter goes to church all the time. Her daughter was 19 when she had her abortion, but MIL never knew. So remember just cause you don’t know about it, doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen, just means your not your children’s confidante.

One more thing, I think the fact that Susan’s daughter was able to go to her mom with the problem says more about Susan’s relationship with her kids then anything she does as a career.

Sarah Palin’s daughter had a choice because of Roe vs. Wade.
She would not have a CHOICE were it not for legalized abortion in this country.
I think responsible parents EDUCATE their children about sex and support them when they make good choices and help them when they make bad choices.

Great Job Fanny! It’s all about the relationship PARENTS have with their children, but ultimately it comes down to the choices a child makes.

As a parent (mother or father), you give your child the tools to hopefully make educated decisions (this is a lifelong journey…it doesn’t stop when they turn 18). When they’re a teenager hormones will cloud some of their memory at some point (comes from the underdeveloped frontal cortex of the brain and continues until they are into their 20s). Most mothers wish their daughter would come to them when they are thinking about having sex. Truth is, many daughters won’t come to you regardless of your relationship. My daughter is a teenager and she talks to me about almost everything (friends, boy crushes, her friend’s crushes, things they talk about, stuff that happened during the day, almost anything is fair game). I’m a fool if I believe that she is going to share her every thought and desire with me. I’m her mother and at times a confidant. However, I’m still her mother.

While I believe my daughter knows I love her, am available for her at any time, interested and involved…all this has to compete with a sweet talking boy who at one point will become her everything. Think about yourself as a teenager and your first or second crush…first “love”. It’s hard for a parent to compete with those kinda feelings.

As parents, all we can do is love our children, be there when they need a shoulder, talk with them on an ONGOING basis about safety, protection and the risks of sexual behavior. We can give them the tools and support they need, and hope that they remember to use them when they are presented with a difficult decision like to have unprotected sex or not. After that, it’s all up to them.

To place the blame on Sarah for her daughter getting pregnant is crazy. You can give a teenager as many tools as you want, but you cannot be there every second to make sure they use them. At some point, the child needs to be responsible for the decisions they make.

Yes, parenting is a 24/7 job. If we ship children off to college without having to make some decisions on their own before they leave, they’re really going to have trouble when they are presented with difficult stuff and you are not there to help them figure out what to do.

I applaud Sarah for accepting her daughter’s choice and not trying to force her to get a hush-hush abortion as many parents might have done because having a pregnant teen might make them look bad.

As far as her running for VP and having a family, if she was a man we would not be having this conversation. It amazes me how people in this country continue to oppress each other. Sometimes I think women are the worst critics of other women…judging them to their own standards; standards that were learned from and put in place by white men hundreds of years ago to keep women in their place. When we judge each other like this we continue to reinforce this oppression. Let’s not do that to our daughters and future generations of women that will come after us.

So Sarah’s a mother, does that make her unable to have a career? Because she has a career, does that make her a bad mother? No and No…Because her teen daughter gets pregnant it does not make her a bad parent, it makes her a parent of a child who made a bad choice. Because her child made a bad choice does not mean she can’t be VP. What difference does it make if they live in Alaska or in Washington, DC?

The media (and all of you who are talking bad about Sarah) are the ones who are putting this issue in the public eye and throwing the bad choice this child made back in her face, not her mother.

Yes, her mother is a public figure (and was before she decided to run as VP) and their family is therefore a family that’s under the microscope. However, it was that way BEFORE this child decided to have unprotected sex so don’t you think that it would have been hot press in Alaska even if she didn’t run for VP? Maybe not to this extent, but it would have been publicized. Let’s put the blame where it belongs for this becoming a such a hot public issue…with the media (and with those citizens who are continuing to make it an issue). The media is out to get ratings and make money at any cost. These are people’s lives we are talking about. It could happen to anyone who has a teenage daughter. Let’s have some compassion and not judge them. You could be next.

Oh…and for the record, I’m not a Republican…

I have nothing but admiration for the decision this family has made to support and stand by their daughter. I suspect also that any government official at that level would have more support and flexibility to deal with family issues than would the average mom working.

I am concerned about McCain’s choice for a VP, where he appears to have rushed into a decision with someone he reportedly only spoke with for less than one hour. There are so many politicians who have worked for years connecting with millions of people and impacting their lives, I don’t see how she remotely comes close to a presidential alternate.

On the other notes, we act as though it is so politically incorrect to question, “WHO IS RAISING THE CHILDREN?” There are those who want to climb into the wombs of women and dictate their choices, but once the children are born, the voices want to make you appear sexist to wonder why this politician chooses options that demands more of their time than to give that time to a family she and her husband chose to have. Not only do they have to travel and work long days, but there are the fundraising dinners, public speaking engagements, etc…Wow…and with a NEWBORN at home with Down Syndrome plus four other non-adult children…please…tell me this is not what America defines as a role model.

Legal consent age for a person to have sex is 16 – and a teen pregnancy at or after this time is a consequences the teen may have to face. Parents who support their children’s decisions to continue a pregnancy need commendation, besides, at 17 the daughter has every right to live her own life – why try and crucify a mother for loving and supporting her daughter – What consequece is it as to what sort of career the mother has??

I became a single mom at 21. I strongly focused my daughters on abstinence, but I knew they needed to be given info on birth control as well. When 18, my youngest became pregnant. We went twice to the abortion clinic as she was undecided, and I made sure that she was aware that I would support her if she continued her five week pregnancy. She did not, and she has grieved privately ever since. I love her unconditionally. Palin is loving her daughter unconditionally with the world seeing that her daughter is also human, and I applaud her for that.

It is a clear sign that Mrs. Palin does not have control of her child. Monitoring the activities of teens is a crucial part of parenting not to mention setting family values and standards as the child moves through the different stages of development. Stop the sob crap for Palin. She dropped the ball. There is no excuse for parents who love children without guiding them in knowing how to select good life choices. I became a widow when my daughter was 8. I raised her to respect her body. When she did decide to have sex with a particular young man at 19, we discussed it way before it happened and made sure that she protected herself from pregnancy with birth control and STD. For some reason, today’s parents expect that their children will not listen to them when they reach a certain age. This parent attitude opens the door for children to make unhealthy life choices. There is a reason why children are classifed as adolescents through 18 years. That reason being they do not have the maturity to make wise decisions. Palin dropped the ball because she, like many other parents, stopped parenting at a critical time in her child’s development. By the way, my daughter is beautiful, happy and well adjusted young woman who still respects herself and her body and had no babies out of wedlock.

I agree with any mother’s decision to support her daughter. I don’t think that is the real issue.

ANY mother of young children is not a good candidate for VP of the United States. They are 2, more than full time jobs. An eight month post-partum woman of a special needs child has numerous emotional and hormonal challenges. Add to those challenges a pregnant teen daughter, and her plate is overflowing.

I am not convinced that Sarah Palin daughter wasn’t ‘acting out’ to attain attention of an uninvolved/distracted mother. Seventeen year old girls know how to avoid unwanted pregnancy. I’m sure given Ms. Palin’s strong, publicly-known values- her daughter knew she was not acting in accordance with those values when she got pregnant.

Out of more than 300 million americans, can’t you find one person who has no pregnant teenage daughter and a baby with down syndrome (who clearly needs her most) to run for VP?

To Fanny, as to your christian friend and her christian daughter who had an abortion, dont be deceived, fyi, there are false christians as there are false christs.

I am a mother of 4 children and I stayed home with them. I have loved,nutured,read taken them to church every Sunday. Been married to the same wonderful man for 23 years. And, my children are human like the rest of the world. They have not made good choices from time to time. We have had our disappointments with our kids from the choices that they made. It is frustrating as a parent but you love your children with all your heart. I think it is awesome to finally have a real individual running as VP weather male or female it is great to see someone come right out and say what going on in her family before the media finds out and scandilizes everything. I feel Sarah is just putting it all out on the table. Which I think is great. And, it gives me hope for America having a REAL person running for once. Not someone with all these BIG skeletons in the closet that they are hiding. I feel Sarah could do a great job. Us women know how to multitask like no other, thats why I feel she will do an amazing job with her family as well as America. YOOU GOOO GIRLLL!!!!!

Kit – My MIL just passed and the Preist said more about how her FAITH was way stronger then almost any other person he had ever met in his life. She was more Catholic and had more faith her pinky finger then anyone I have ever ever met. She was a practicing faithful catholic beyond anything you could ever imagine. Being Jewish, we rarely agreed on religious issues, but never ever tell me her faith wasn’t real, cause the woman with her all downfalls was was one of the most faithful to Chrst you could ever meet in your life (and yes I’m going to hell because I’m jewish and was never baptized, I’m OK with that). Her daughter does not have the same faith at all, yes she goes to Church each week, but she does not have faith that no matter what God is guiding her like my MIL had. What it shows is that you can teach and preach all you want, your children in the end will do what they want. My MIL was totally Faithful, none of her kids are very religious like she was. They are all full grown adults and beleive me she preached all the time to her sons and daughter, but it fell on deaf ears.

To the parent who said their child talked to them first, man are you lucky. But the reality is each child is a different person. Myself and my husband and my daughter are all stubborn, strong willed and Independent. For me this meant, MOM Had rules, she “supposedly” knew where I was, but reality was I was where I wanted to be. For my husbad, this meant, at age 5, he crawled out his bedroom window to go to the park when his mom told him he couldn’t. So with my daughter, I monitor and watch, but allow just enough so that she doesn’t have to lie to me. We have struck a good balance so far (I’m also really lucky to have a good kid) Each person is individual and anyone beleiving that they can control every single moment of a teenagers life, doesn’t know much.

Yes you have to still parent a teen, but anyone who beleives everything their teen tells them after you’ve said YOU CAN’T or that is not allowed, lives in make beleive land. All the friends I know who had the most rules, were the ones who did all the worst things (drinking, drugs, sex, etc). Don’t think all the parents worked either, stay at home moms some of them, but the kids weren’t allowed to “hang out” after school, only library, so they lied about going to library. Reality is tighten too much and kids that want to do something will find a way to get around it.

NO parent is perfect, in life as parents we make choices that we hope will work out in the end, but reality is what one thinks will work isn’t always what will work, and hiding behind religion or the “norm” for a family or any other suppoesed tact for parenting just means that “you are pretending to KNOW what is right”.

FYI, I agree with person who said women are their own worst enemies and reason is simple, if someone isn’t doing it their way, they talk about them and how wrong they are. By criticizing anothers “CHOICE” outloud, you are breaking a commandment. Gossip isn’t just what is made up and spread, gossip is also talking about others and putting them down for their decisions.

I hope that my daughter has more opportunities to do and be what she wants to be in life, I hope that no one tells her to be a teacher so she can stay home with the kids. I hope that no matter she is encouraged by everyone to be mom or not, have a career or not, whatever works for her. (My mom puts her nose up to the guy who is a stay at home dad because a man shouldn’t do that and I said “WHY NOT” and all she could answer was that its not the way it should be, not a good answer.)

I don’t think it’s any of our business. I do agree with the person that wrote if her husband was running for VP. would there be ANY question if HE was qaulified???? They’re an average family.And families have problems.

Chances that she would have a pregnant teen would have been much much lower in the first place had she not been so naive to think taking sex ed out of school and preaching abstinance was going to do any good. What a joke. She is idealistic just as she said herself during her speech and not very realistic. And her speech was full of it. i’m sure she has good intensions but she doesn’t know what she is talking about. She just wants to be on a power trip and win.

I too, was pregnant at 17. The father and I made the decision get married and have the baby. We now have been happily married for 32 years and have 4 sons. Did we get pregnant because of working parents? No. We both had stay-at-home mothers and happy, loving families who were both very supportive when we chose to keep the baby. We got pregnant because we made the wrong decision. We both understood the conseqences. But at 17 you’re not thinking it can happen to you. Are we happy with our decision in the long run? Absolutely. We have had 4 well adjusted children and now 7 beatiful grandchildren, none out of wedlock. It can be done. I admire Sarah Palin for taking this stance to love and support her daughter unconditionaly and be by her side. This is called real life and they are a real family.

Govenor Palin will be a very good vice president. She will be a shinning example to mothers. She should get the Mother of the year award. She is a fine woman and practises what she preaches.

Reminder: this is not a discussion about the Christian religion. Any further comments on that tangent will be deleted.

Maybe it is true that she is getting more comments questioning about her parenting BUT Barack Obama has had questions about his young daughter and I do expect the same questions to ask of him. And it was Obama who said men should be involved fathers. Personally, I think the way you parent tells a lot about the way you will lead. Dismissing it all as sexist is not looking at the whole picture.

Are you not contradicting yourself about mothers and teenage pregnancy as you gave the distinct impression of looking down your nose at Brittney Spears mother when the younger sister got pregnant.(I don’t know any of their names as I don’t follow this stuff it just left a bad taste in my mouth when I read what you said)but you are of course entitled to your own opinion,it is the changing of it that I find sad. You should read your own comments. She also stuck by her daughter but you seemed to sneer at her, while you seem to say that it makes this woman more admirable…

I applaud that she is standing up and beside her pregnant teen. If you want a really good look at Sarah Palin look at her records for cutting funds that help infants and children. It is one thing to bring a child into the world and another to do what is right afterwards. Is that really what America needs????

All families want the best for their children.Sarah was against teaching sex edcation. Abstinence is great.But also tell your daughter s & sons what choices and what to use if the get at that point. Why did the young man get up and put on a condon??? We would not be talking about this if Sarah had not been against SEX EDCATION. Some mothers & fathers do not talk about sex to their children.So that way sex edcation is important.

I too was a parent at 17 – And trust me, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. I love my son (now 15) with all my heart. But its not easy, I had little support from my family, which was simalir to the Palin family. I was the oldest of 4 and when my son was born my youngest sister was 5. So if Palin thinks that she can be VP of our country, raise small children of her own, plus help with a pregnant teen & grandchild. Damn she must be SUPERWOMAN. I am not knocking her but come on – is she really gonna be a benefit to our country and her family with all this crazyness in her life. I agree that she should have reconsidered her position as VP.

Having been the preg. teen in a family with small siblings and working parents; and knowing how little help I received I beleive I am entitled to my opinion. And here goes “Sarah Palin is a selfish irresponsible person.” Any person (be it man or woman) that is gonna put themselves before there family doesn’t deserve to be respectfully called a parent.

I dont disagree with being a working parent (as I am). In fact about 2 years ago i returned to college to pursue a new career, one that would greater benefit my family financially. But when my son entered high school this past year and we began having struggles with him, I quit school to focus more attention on his needs. And that is what parenting is all about.

When you become a parent you commit to make your children your #1 priority. Look around – see how our children behave; do you wonder why. It is because too many parents are selfish.