Media Twisted Meaning Of Bristol Palin Comments On Abstinence, Opinion Piece Says

Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology;  Pregnancy / Obstetrics;  Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 24 Feb 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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Media coverage had implied that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's (R) 18-year-old daughter, Bristol Palin, who gave birth in December 2008 after an unintended pregnancy, "repudiate[d] her famous mother's conservative values" when she said that abstinence was "not realistic" for teenagers in a recent Fox News interview, syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher writes in a Washington Times opinion piece. "Of course the 'not realistic' comment that blared across the headlines was only a stray comment made by Bristol in the middle of a long interview," Gallagher writes, adding that the "headline vultures descended upon it because the 'A-word' causes so many people to snort, see red and charge into battle against the bare idea that chastity is even a possibility for teens."

There is "something strangely dehumanizing about the way so many adults are so eager to insist that sexual self-control is actually impossible," Gallagher continues. She writes that Bristol "wanted to emerge on national TV as an advocate against teen pregnancy" but that the "headlines and the interview make clear that [she], perhaps, did not achieve her goal." Gallagher writes that part of the problem is "that darn baby looking so cute on TV, and the young mother apparently unfazed by it all." In addition, "there's her mom, the governor of Alaska, dropping by the TV studio to sing Bristol's praises." According to Gallagher, it is "pretty hard to emerge from the interview asking hard questions about teen motherhood."

She continues, "I don't know if abstinence is 'realistic.'" She cites Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics showing that in 2002, 31% of girls ages 18 and 19 had never had sexual intercourse. In addition, nearly one in 10 adults ages 20 to 30 has abstained from sex, according to Gallagher. She asks, "Abstinence-until-marriage is definitely not statistically 'normal' behavior in this day and age, ... but does that make it 'unrealistic?'" She concludes that "watching Bristol speak raises for me another more pressing question: Is it really wise for an entire society to adopt the point of view of the average inarticulate 18-year-old kid?" (Gallagher, Washington Times, 2/20).

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