Former vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) in her speech last week at an antiabortion-rights banquet in Indiana said that "for a fleeting moment" she contemplated having an abortion after learning that her son would have Down syndrome, the Washington Post reports. Palin said ultimately she decided to "walk the walk" of her antiabortion-rights views and carry her pregnancy to term, adding that the experience allowed her to "understand a woman's, a girl's temptation to maybe try to make it all go away." According to the Post, Palin avoided using the word abortion during her speech, instead referring to the procedure with the phrase "change the circumstances." She said her "moment of doubt" illustrates her belief that all pregnancies should be carried to term, regardless of the circumstances, the Post reports.

Palin said she was traveling when she received the results of an amniocentesis that revealed a chromosomal abnormality that would mean her son would be born with Down syndrome. Palin said, "There, just for a fleeting moment, I thought, I knew, 'Nobody knows me here. Nobody would ever know.'" She added, "I had just enough faith to know that my trying to change the circumstances wasn't any answer."

According to the Post, abortion-rights opponents at the banquet responded "warmly" to Palin's remarks. David O'Steen, executive director of the National Right to Life Committee, said her remarks could strengthen her connections to antiabortion-rights groups. He said her speech demonstrates "that she is very forthright, very honest. It also shows she's a person who, when tried and tempted, will make the right decisions." Kim Lehman of Iowa Right to Life said, "She was tested, tried and chose life. It goes to show her character."

Abortion-rights supporters said that every woman deserves the opportunity to make her own choice. Elizabeth Shipp, political director of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say Governor Palin sounds remarkably pro-choice" (Franke-Ruta, Washington Post, 4/18).

Opinion Piece Says Palin's Remarks Reinforce Idea of Abortion as 'Personal Choice'

"I'd like to thank Sarah Palin for her bravery in explaining the importance of a woman's right to choose" during her speech last week at the Indiana antiabortion-rights banquet, Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus writes in an opinion piece. She adds that this "was not, of course, Palin's intention in revealing that she momentarily considered an abortion." According to Marcus, Palin contemplated abortion twice during her pregnancy: "once when she discovered she would be a mother at 44, again several weeks later when she discovered that her baby would have Down syndrome."

Marcus quotes several passages from Palin's speech, adding that she "respect[s] Palin's decision not to 'make it all go away.'" She continues, "Except that, if it were up to Palin, women would have no thought process to go through ... because abortion would not be an option" unless to save the life of the woman. According to Marcus, for the banquet audience, Palin's remarks "served the comfortable role of moral reinforcement: She wavered in her faith, was tempted to sin, regained her strength and emerged better for it."

However, for those who are "less certain that we know, or are equipped to instruct others, when life begins and when it is permissible to terminate a pregnancy, Palin's speech offered a different lesson: Abortion is a personal issue and a personal choice," Marcus writes. She concludes, "The government has no business taking that difficult decision away from those who must live with the consequences" (Marcus, Washington Post, 4/20).

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