Rumors and Truth

[Nirvana]

I agree its trouble but it does not speak of Palin herself as the one committing the subterfuge.

[Nirvana]

Some may find pregnancy at this age morally repugnant, but the age of consent in Alaska is 16. This is the age at which an individual may consent to have sex with someone over 18, legally. I am not sure underage would apply to her daughter if you are going by the legal definition for that state. The minimum age to marry in Alaska is 18. People under the age of 18 can marry with the consent of both parents.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Nirvana

Some may find pregnancy at this age morally repugnant, but the age of consent in Alaska is 16. This is the age at which an individual may consent to have sex with someone over 18, legally. I am not sure underage would apply to her daughter if you are going by the legal definition for that state. The minimum age to marry in Alaska is 18. People under the age of 18 can marry with the consent of both parents.

Again, one of the reasons for her selection was her appeal to social conservatives, with the implication that she could be a mother of 4 underage children (1 with special needs) and manage the number two job in the US. This incident does not support that. Will her husband be Mr. Mom while she is VP or will she require a nanny? Who will care for her baby when she travels overseas, especially to countries to which embassy personnel are discouraged from bringing dependents.

Most liberals and real libertarians won't care, figuring that anyone has the right to mess up their own family, but social conservatives will have a mental image of the baby crying for his mother while she boards Air Force Two. The fact that she already has a family crisis while simply a state governor is not going to reassure anyone.

From here

The Alaska age of consent laws are unique. The age of consent in Alaska is 16. This is the age at which an individual may consent to have sex with someone over 18, legally, in Alaska. It applies both to heterosexual and homosexual acts

In Alaska, as in many other states, the laws on statutory rape depend, in part, on the age difference between the two partners. The law recognizes statutory rape only in cases involving an age difference of more than 3 years. A 20 year old man who has sex with a 15 year old girl, in Alaska, is guilty of statutory rape. A 17 year old male who has consensual sex with a 15 year old girl is not guilty of statutory rape, under Alaska law.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by richlevy

Again, one of the reasons for her selection was her appeal to social conservatives, with the implication that she could be a mother of 4 underage children (1 with special needs) and manage the number two job in the US. This incident does not support that.

The fact that her 17 year old got preggers does not refute it. It really means nothing more than her 17 year old had un-protected sex. I mean really weren't you 17 once? Did your parents control your actions when you were 17? Have you heard the 17 yr old on this very forum talk about what they have done? Drugs and sex have been part of it. Why have their parents not controlled them and prevented it? Why attack the girl, why didn't the boy wear a condom? No parent controls what their 17 year olds do. I have been through it twice with 2 kids and we have another about to be 17. How many 17 year olds do you have?

Will her husband be Mr. Mom while she is VP or will she require a nanny? Who will care for her baby when she travels overseas, especially to countries to which embassy personnel are discouraged from bringing dependents.

Who cares. That is their problem. Who cares for the babies of our deployed and deploying soldiers, sailors, marines, and AF personel? Who cares if he becomes Mr. Mom. Sounds like a personal choice they made when they got into the race as a family. Who cares if they have to hire a nanny. Why don't you think women should be successful and still have a family? You don't think they can do both? She has already proven that she can do both.

Most liberals and real libertarians won't care, figuring that anyone has the right to mess up their own family, but social conservatives will have a mental image of the baby crying for his mother while she boards Air Force Two.

Who says she "messed up her family"? You think that plenty of normal families have not gone what they are going through? Or is the fact that her 17 yr old made some poor decisions make them different. Social Conservatives will more likely look at them and think at least they supported her 17 yr old in her pregnancy and did not run out and get an abortion. Most people who support her in her run will not focus on some fantasy of her baby crying while she boards a plane.

The fact that she already has a family crisis while simply a state governor is not going to reassure anyone.

I still don't get why you are perpetrating the myth that a 5 month pregnant teen is a crisis. It is a crisis come and gone. The crisis occurred when they found out she was preggers, not 5 months after that. Or are state governors not allowed to have family crisises. Maybe you think they should just not have families. Hey, let's take a look at the things Clinton did while he was governor and see if any of them could be raised to the level of a "family crisis".

[Pico and ME]

My fear is that, unfortunately, as a result of this VERY high profile teen pregnancy, teen pregnancy rates will climb. Thats not a good thing.

[SamIam]

What's the big deal, especially if the daughter is getting married? I would assume that the daughter will set up housekeeping somewhere with her new husband, not move in with Mom and Dad. So who cares if Grandma has to go somewhere on Air Force 2? The child's mother is traditionally the one responsible for her own child. And if Grandma (and Grandpa) want to slip the newlyweds a few bucks, so they can buy their own home in Alaska or anywhere else, who cares about that either?

[jinx]

Originally Posted by Pico and ME

My fear is that, unfortunately, as a result of this VERY high profile teen pregnancy, teen pregnancy rates will climb. Thats not a good thing.

Did/do you have the same fears wrt Jamie Lynn Spears' pregnancy?

[bluecuracao]

Originally Posted by jinx

Did/do you have the same fears wrt Jamie Lynn Spears' pregnancy?

I felt like that was a bad example as well.

Whether or not these high-profile teen pregnancies/births result in higher rates, my concern is that they send the message that it's okay for teens to give birth in this day and age.

Yes, it happens, it's always happened. But IMO, it's NOT okay. I'll appeal to everyone's common sense here, and state that most teen mothers do not receive the level of emotional and financial support that the Spearses and the Palins are assumed to be able to provide to their teen mother family members.

When I was in high school (80s), there were so many pregnant girls that they started a separate school on our campus for them to attend. I don't know how many stuck with it, but the program ended before I reached my senior year. Sex education was never part of our curriculum in regular high school.

To me, the very fact that Ms. Palin is able to run for VP with her views toward women's and girls' reproductive rights is worse than ironic; it's a slap in the face of the strides that (should) have been made over the past four decades.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Pico and ME

My fear is that, unfortunately, as a result of this VERY high profile teen pregnancy, teen pregnancy rates will climb. Thats not a good thing.

There is no evidence to support that statement.

[bluecuracao]

She would be considered underage, if she needs the consent of her parents to get married.

I wonder if Palin secretly wishes now that she had taught her daughter to use birth control...since the abstinence teachings obviously didn't work.

[Nirvana]

Originally Posted by bluecuracao

She would be considered underage, if she needs the consent of her parents to get married.

I wonder if Palin secretly wishes now that she had taught her daughter to use birth control...since the abstinence teachings obviously didn't work.

That is not how the law reads BC. There are two different laws and they do not necessarily work well together.

[bluecuracao]

Originally Posted by Nirvana

The minimum age to marry in Alaska is 18. People under the age of 18 can marry with the consent of both parents.

So this isn't what the law is in Alaska?