As you'll know from this post, I'm quite a fan of the lovely Sarah Palin - but I don't see eye to eye on her on everything.That's why I was surprised to find this rigorous supporter of 'abstinence only' sex education having to deal with her teenage daughter's unplanned pregnancy.
I mean, talk about irony.
For a long time, I've argued that the problem with the Republican party's anti-abortion position is their diametrically opposed position on sex education.
The Republicans want to keep their children pure (i.e. ignorant) and have long argued to teach them to 'keep it in their pants' rather than educate kids about safe sex or alternative forms of sexual intimacy (i.e. the ones that don't get you pregnant.)
It's the most stupid system in the world.
Abstinence only sex education has proven time and time again not to work. It doesn't stop kids having sex - it only stops kids having safe sex. This is why the unplanned teenage pregnancy rate in Republican states like Texas is WAY above the national average.
The Republican policy towards sex education is causing a huge percentage of the unplanned pregnancies that ultimately end in abortion. Perhaps if they'd suck it up and start teaching kids about safe sex, there would be fewer 'accidents' and less of a demand for abortions.
But no - the Republican policy has never been to actually reduce the number of abortions (that happened in Clinton's presidency, but not Bush Jnr's.) It's simply been to make abortion illegal.
Now, I'm not 'pro-abortion.' I don't think anybody is. I would LOVE to work towards a society in which abortion is totally unnecessary. In order to do that, though, the damn Republicans are going to have to compromise on some issues.
Here's what I propose - a bill, put to Congress, that bans abortion outright across the United States, except in situations in which the mother's health is at risk.
In that same bill, a mandate which makes it compulsory for every 13 year old girl in America to be fitted with an IUD, which will be removed or replaced (depending on her choice) when she turns 18 (or 21.)
Similarly, all women in America would be offered free or affordable birth control - creating a situation in which a woman will go to a doctor to be taken off birth control when she's decided that she's ready to have a baby - instead of it happening 'accidentally.'
Bang! Overnight, you would end 99.9% of unwanted pregnancies (and the need for abortion.)
In that same bill, millions of dollars would be invested in sex education for teenagers, so they don't just learn about the ins, outs (and ins again) of safe sex. They are also taught self respect and self control so that if they choose to have sexual relationships, they're safe, healthy, consensual and respectful - teenagers wouldn't be pressured into having sex 'to be cool' like the characters they saw in Gossip Girl.
And finally, in that bill, we'd have an amendment banning capital punishment across America - because in a society that argues that abortion is evil because 'every life is sacred,' how can we have an institutionalized system of execution?
That's my solution to the abortion question - I'd be interested to see what people think of it. Please feel free to suggest your own. Just remember; the goal isn't to make abortion illegal - it's to eliminate the need for abortions.
