It really is no one else’s business

By W. Craig Heymann, 1618 Lyndale - 09/17/08
Vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin recently delivered a baby with Down syndrome. Unlike most women, Palin chose to carry the pregnancy to term, endearing her to flocks of single-issue conservatives.

We’ve also learned Palin’s 17-year-old unmarried daughter is pregnant (that “abstinence only” thing didn’t quite work out) and has also made a choice — to become a young mother. Unlike many unmarried pregnant teenagers, Bristol has a loving family with whom to consult.

Conservatives are right about one thing: These matters are nobody’s business but the Palins’ and that’s precisely the point — they would deny these choices to you.

Republicans believe Big Business should be freed of “intrusive” regulation while simultaneously advocating that the most intimate aspects of your personal life be subject to religiously influenced government coercion, to wit: Asarco, W.R. Grace and even Derek Brown’s construction company should have the unregulated right to pollute your air, your home and your water, but your most personal decisions should be subject to religious scrutiny — nay, criminal prosecution.

Note to Christian conservatives: Your moral position is not as virtuous as you think. Your efforts to save so-called “dead babies” will result in real dead women. Ask any woman over 60.