I had never heard of Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, until today. Alaska doesn’t usually make the headlines in Iowa, except perhaps when there’s an oil spill. Today’s news article about Governor Palin was much more encouraging news, though certainly not everyone will be praising the governor for the course of action she is taking.
The news is not about the economy or the environment. It’s about the governor’s family, specifically about her newborn son Trig Paxson Van Palin, who has Down syndrome. A study has found that about 92% of pregnancies are terminated when prenatal testing reveals the presence of Down syndrome. Governor Palin and her husband Todd never considered this possibility.
The Palins are strongly pro-life and very vocal about it. The governor explains, “We understand that every innocent life has wonderful potential.” Nevertheless, the news that came when she was four months pregnant was a shock, particularly as her previous four pregnancies had gone just fine.
Caring for a special needs child is never easy, but Governor Palin is committed to both fulfilling her responsibilities to the state and to her family. Father and newborn son accompanied her to the office three days after Trig was born, as a sign of that commitment. “There is no reason to believe a woman can’t do it with a growing family,” Palin said. “My baby will not be at all or in any sense neglected.”
I think I will have to take to following the news on Alaska more closely.
May 5, 2008 at 9:23 pm |
She is a great woman. I admire her so much.
My wife had a sister with Down syndrome who was both very loving and very well loved. It is difficult to have such a child but also a tremendous privilege.
September 2, 2008 at 9:27 pm |
It is absolutely not true that 92 percent of women prenatally diagnosed w/a baby with Down syndrome terminate. Where did you get that number? I am a genetic counselor, and I can assure you the number is nowhere near that high. Perhaps that number came from a particular hospital in a particular city or some other place with bias of ascertainment.
It is wonderful to welcome a child with Down syndrome in your life, and I am sure Trig will bring them great joy. However, to be “truly pro life” means to value and protect the life of the people you are responsible for, and this woman (or else her husband) needs to stay home with this special little boy AND the wayward teenaged daughter.
September 2, 2008 at 9:55 pm |
Susan,
I got the number from the study that I linked to in the post. I looked back at it after reading your comment, and I see now that the study was from the United Kingdom; they may well have much higher numbers of terminations with a diagnosis of Down sydrome than in the U.S. I think at the time I wrote the post I had seen other materials indicating numbers close to that, but I picked this one to link to because it appeared to be a very thorough study published in a reputable journal (as I say, I don’t think I noticed at the time that it was not in this country).