Three Cheers for Teen Pregnancy

By Ken Silverstein

From Lawrence Auster, about the “warm embracing response of Christian conservatives to the Bristol announcement”:

Over and over, there’s no disapproval at all of Bristol’s pregnancy. To the contrary, there is congratulations! Since when do conservatives issue congratulations on an unwed teen pregnancy! Since when is it good news that a 17 year old high school student will be caring for her new born baby while attending high school? Since when is it good news that she must marry her 18 year old boy friend, two children wholly unprepared for marriage and parenthood? And since when is it good news that the 17 girl who is being forced to get married is already the prime care giver to her five month old special-needs baby brother because their mother is too busy running the state of Alaska and now running for vice president?

Just take that in. Bristol is already the primary caregiver for five-month old Downs’ syndrome baby Trig. Defenders of Sarah Palin at VFR have even boasted that this is a good thing, it shows the hearty frontier spirit of the Palin family. Sarah is too busy to care for Trig. She never seems to hold Trig. Bristol holds Trig in all the photos, holds him very tight. And now Bristol, a 17 year old high school pupil whom Sarah relies on to take care of Trig, is herself pregnant and has to take care of her own pregnancy and upcoming child as well as her upcoming marriage to an 18 year old boy. And all this is great! All this shows what great, life-affirming, genuine American-stock folk the Palins are.

It’s all good. Why? Because Bristol’s baby is not being aborted. The non-abortion turns the unmarried pregnancy and the upcoming teen-age marriage into a blessed event!