Palin's 17 year old daughter is pregnant

[Jurassic]

ST. PAUL, Minn. - John McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, said Monday her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant, an announcement stealing even more thunder from McCain and a Republican presidential convention already overshadowed by Hurricane Gustav.
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Adding to the day's drama, McCain aides said the announcement was aimed at rebutting Internet rumors that Palin's youngest son, born in April, was actually her daughter's.

The national convention, which a political party counts on to send its candidate surging into the fall campaign, already had been relegated to a distant second to the hurricane on TV, in newspapers and on Internet Web sites.

Monday's statement, attributed to Sarah and Todd Palin and released by the campaign, said that Bristol Palin would keep her baby and marry the child's father, identified only as a young man named Levi. The baby is due in late December.

http://new.com/s/ap/20080901/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_palin_daughter

This along with Gustav provides even more distraction from the RNC. It will be interesting to see how they handle all of this or if it is even addressed any further.

 

[Denny Crane]

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0908/Obama_on_Palin.html?showall

Obama on Palin

Politico's Carrie Budoff Brown reports: At a press avail in Monroe, Mich., Barack Obama on Palin: "Back off these kinds of stories."

"I have said before and I will repeat again: People's families are off limits," Obama said. "And people's children are especially off-limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president. So I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. You know my mother had me when she was 18 and how a family deals with issues and teenage children, that shouldn’t be a topic of our politics."

On charges that his campaign has stoked the story via liberal blogs:
"I am offended by that statement. There is no evidence at all that any of this involved us," he said. "Our people were not involved in any way in this, and they will not be. And if I thought there was somebody in my campaign who was involved in something like that, they would be fired."

 

[Jurassic]

^^ I meant if McCain or Palin will address it further at the convention, not Obama.

 

[Real]

No, it's a private matter.

 

[tim]

Agreed, family matters should not be discussed. And I doubt they will be by either party.

 

[huevonkiller]

I think it is a smart tactical move for Obama to avoid the subject.

 

[GMJ]

If she can't appropriately raise her own daughter, what makes her think she can lead the country? [/devil's advocate]

 

[ghoti]

Not one registered voter thinks it's an easy task to control the behavior of a 17 year old. I think this just humanizes Palin further.

 

[Master Shake]

I bet her daughter is a hottie to get preggo at 17. I mean, c'mon now.

 

[MikeDC]

I think it is a smart tactical move for Obama to avoid the subject.

And, ya know, just because it's the right thing to do. Unfortunately, his supporters, again, make me pretty skeptical of the company he keeps.

 

[GMJ]

Hey no one in my family is popping out babies

 

[pegs]

If we're judging people on their kids, then my moms should be VP, because I'm a saint.

 

[GMJ]

On the right. Yep, looks like a slore.

 

[BasX]

sry guys, i was bored, i had to do it

the other one will be nice, in a few years too, not the creepy one at the bottom

 

[Master Shake]

Her preggo daughter looks a bit chubby. Looks like Joker's kinda girl.

 

[bbwMax]

lol i just read she has two sons Called Track and trig. Who the hell would call a son Track? And Trig is nearly as bad. IMagine the insults SMH

 

[Jurassic]

Not to play devil's advocate, but would this still be kept as a "family matter" if they had chosen to abort or give up for adoption?

I also heard that Palin's daughter will be marrying the alleged father. If they weren't getting married I can guarantee that that young man's life would not have been kept private nor would child support issues. This is only being kept a private matter because of the path they seem to have chosen, keeping the child and getting married.

 

[Denny Crane]

Isn't "pregnancy ruining a 16-year-old or 17-year-old girl's life" an argument for abortion? WTF, don't people on the left get it that teenagers have sex and sometimes get pregnant? Or that sometimes 17-year-olds get pregnant and want to get married and keep the child?

 

[Master Shake]

Hey, I'm Truck and this is my brother Trig. YOU WANNA WRASSTLE!

 

[bbwMax]

Isn't "pregnancy ruining a 16-year-old or 17-year-old girl's life" an argument for abortion? WTF, don't people on the left get it that teenagers have sex and sometimes get pregnant? Or that sometimes 17-year-olds get pregnant and want to get married and keep the child?

Because it was her choice to have sex with her partner. They both knew the risks of possible pregnancy. Whereas Involuntary Pregnancy through Rape and such is arguable because who would want to raise the child of a man that raped you?

 

[Denny Crane]

Because it was her choice to have sex with her partner. They both knew the risks of possible pregnancy. Whereas Involuntary Pregnancy through Rape and such is arguable because who would want to raise the child of a man that raped you?

Rape has a multitude of meanings. It can be forced sex with an assailant unknown, which is probably what you're talking about, and I don't know if it is a very frequent cause of pregnancies.

In the USA, an 18-year-old having sex with a 17-year-old (or younger) is considered statutory rape, whether the two are in love or not.

I can think of other circumstances, too.

It's up to the woman, in my book, to decide under any circumstances (in the first three months) to continue the pregnancy or not.

 

[44Thrilla]

In the USA, an 18-year-old having sex with a 17-year-old (or younger) is considered statutory rape,

Depends on the state. A lot of states have set 16 or 17 as the age of consent.

 

[Real]

Age of consent in New Jersey is 16.

 

[speeds]

^ Canada recently raised the age of consent from 14 to 16.

 

[ghoti]

Age of consent in New Jersey is 16.

Only if there is less than a four year difference in age. Otherwise it's 18.

Also, if there is a teacher, doctor, counselor or boss involved it's always 18.

Parents, guardians and family members over 18 (blood related or not) are charged with rape if sex with anyone under 18 occurs regardless of age differential.

 

[The Return of the Raider]

I don't know anyone that was a "planned" pregnancy, before their mother found out they were pregnant, in or out of wedlock.

 

[Denny Crane]

I don't know anyone that was a "planned" pregnancy, before their mother found out they were pregnant, in or out of wedlock.

Meet one, sort of.

I was 21 and my wife was 17 when we got married. She was pregnant, and we planned it. We both wanted kids and right away. We were engaged already, and didn't really want to wait another year to get married.

She finished her senior year of HS pregnant and got straight A's.

We've been married for near 30 years now.

Looking back, her folks could have had me thrown in prison. I'm a lucky guy in that respect, but I consider myself luckier that they're my in-laws.

 

[Dumpy]

I doesn't--or shouldn't--matter any more than whether you have a gay or lesbian child. Nor should it matter if you have a child that has broken the law, in my view. Unfortunately, it does matter to some people. The religious right were at the forefront of bringing the private lives of candidates and their families into the light. I find it disgusting. Who do we want our politicians to be? Do we want to eliminate some of the best-suited, most thoughtful and caring candidates because of something that happened in their personal lives, or because of some buried family fact? Why should that matter? It's one of the reasons why I despise politics, the mean-spiritedness, the attempts to ruin someone's lives because you disagree with their point of view.

The issue with Palin, for me, has to do with whether she could possibly fill ANY role in national office other than shaking hands--and I have yet to see any evidence that she can.

 

[Jurassic]

Isn't "pregnancy ruining a 16-year-old or 17-year-old girl's life" an argument for abortion? WTF, don't people on the left get it that teenagers have sex and sometimes get pregnant? Or that sometimes 17-year-olds get pregnant and want to get married and keep the child?

I don't think that I stated my personal opinion anywhere in that post. Don't try to paint the picture that people are naive and don't understand the reality of teenagers getting pregnant just because you disagree with my point. Besides that was wasn't even my point. My point was simply that if she had chosen a controversial route (abortion) that the media would not be treating this as a family issue.

Since it came up, my personal opinion is pro-life. I don't think that pregnancy ruining someone's life is an argument for abortion for many reasons.

1. Why should teen sex be any different than any other teen decision that could potentially ruin someone's life? There isn't an undo button for any other aspect of life.

2. I do agree that abortion should exist as an option in cases of rape and incest.

3. Who is to say that it is guaranteed that abortion will ruin someone's life? Who are we to define what "ruined" means? I find that opinion to be self-righteous as there are many people in foreign countries who have multiple unplanned children due to lack of birth control. Are there lives ruined? Not by their standards, and really that is what matters. In fact many of those who lead simple lives may be more "happy" than we are as Americans. Really it comes down to the fact that we do not have the right to impose the "American dream" on others, even those within our country.

The thing that makes the least sense about your post is that you state that your own wife was pregnant at 17 and got straight A's her senior year. So obviously it is possible to be a success as a pregnant teen, yet you argue that abortion should be an option because of the potential to ruin a teen's life?

 

[Denny Crane]

I doesn't--or shouldn't--matter any more than whether you have a gay or lesbian child. Nor should it matter if you have a child that has broken the law, in my view. Unfortunately, it does matter to some people. The religious right were at the forefront of bringing the private lives of candidates and their families into the light. I find it disgusting. Who do we want our politicians to be? Do we want to eliminate some of the best-suited, most thoughtful and caring candidates because of something that happened in their personal lives, or because of some buried family fact? Why should that matter? It's one of the reasons why I despise politics, the mean-spiritedness, the attempts to ruin someone's lives because you disagree with their point of view.

The issue with Palin, for me, has to do with whether she could possibly fill ANY role in national office other than shaking hands--and I have yet to see any evidence that she can.

What are her positions on energy? Energy happens to be one of the biggest issues we face, right?