Sarah Palin Gets Discussed on This Blog, Once Again
December 18, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
The Women’s Rights blog over at Change.org has a post about the Top 10 Moments of Feminism in 2008. The selection of Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, as Senator John McCain’s running mate sparked (I guess that’s an understatement) lots of discussion in general, and certainly in the autism and disability community, and in particular regarding Palin’s baby son Trig, who has Down Syndrome. Would you consider the choice of Sarah Palin, special needs mother, as a Top 10 Moment in the annals of special needs families in 2008?
See, there are those of us who feel her selection was not feminist, but was sexist. They expected to draw moderate swing women just because she’s a woman, forget the fact that she’s not moderate at all. So neither do I feel she is a top 10 moment for feminism or disability rights…
Top ten for notoriety? You betcha.
Top ten for feminism or disability rights? Not so much. Also.
I do believe she was a “Top 10 Moment in the annals of special needs families in 2008″ in the sense that her choices (choosing to have Trig) brought to light a lot of hidden or not-so-usually discussed thoughts and feelings on people with disabilities – on abortion as well in that vein – I heard quite a few times after Palin become a national conversation piece that abortion was tailored specifically for this situation (finding out you were pregnant with a child that had a disability) and how dare she not exercise her right as a woman. It also (in my opinion) includes her in the top ten feminist moments of 2008 because of the conversation that was inspired – do women really want women to have the right to choose their baby’s life or not? Because, to me, it seems that many believe she was less of a woman for not choosing an option made available to her (abortion) because of the child with a disability – as if she should have had no choice in the matter at all.
It’s not that I think the title should be given to her based on anything she really did, but more on the conversations that ensued across the nation because of choices she did make on both feminist and disability fronts.
Laura, based on what she claims are her beliefs, she was not exercising a choice. I respect her for choosing Trig, and I disagree with those that insult her or put her down for it, but that choice in and of itself does not make it a special needs or feminist moment especially with the number of times her choice was perceived as laughable. It was viewed as a publicity stunt. Choice should never be a publicity stunt. It should be a protected right. That kind of conversation brings us down. And there is a lot more to feminism than abortion.
And there is more to disability rights than having a living breathing disabled kid. Considering her choice to carry Trig to term is, in right-wing circles, a shining example of her dedication to pro-life principles, I would say it is definitely not a good moment for any progressive cause.
Why did she have an amnio if she was against abortion? I’m not being aggressive, just curious.
There are things you will still want to know about during, shortly after, and apparently even before birth. Just as an example, there is hemophilia in my family, and my mom wanted to know if she would need a blood technician on hand (I forget the actual term, but you get the picture)
I’d want to know as much as I could about any developmental misfires before having my child. I’ve never had amnio because the risks have always outweighed any benefits for me, but if a Down’s baby were on the way, I’d want to know. I’m also the kind of person who will look up how a movie ends while I’m watching it, so that’s probably just a personal preference thing.
Sarah Palin was a cynical choice meant to attract women, and it didn’t work because many of her stances are anti-feminist. Even the people who chose her had little respect for her. There were any number of excellent choices among Republican women if they wanted a genuine choice whom women could respect. Their selection of Palin was not only exploiting her, it was a clear statement of their opinion about women’s ability in general to discern the truly qualified and able from a window-dressed mannequin. Luckily, they were wrong in that assumption. Palin was repulsive to me, not because of her choices as a mother or woman, not because of her obvious inability to function in a high public office, but because of her utter willingness to cater to the worst faction of her party and stir them up unapologetically.
I think her hatefulness and crowd-baiting are antithetical to what women can bring to the political table. They called her a pit bull, but they used her as their trained lapdog, and I don’t see anything in that qualifying Palin for top-10 whatever.
Palin may be mom to a special needs child, but she doesn’t represent moms in general. The comment I heard was this: “A woman voting for Sarah Palin is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.”
A couple of pieces on Palin having amniocentesis:
The Politics of Amniocentesis from the Freakonomicsblog
Abortion, Palin’s Amniocentesis, and the ProLife View of Sex
That’s a joke question, right?
I guess I read into the “Top ten moments in the annals of special needs families in 2008″ as something or someone that was noteworthy based on the topic. I would say in many ways the movie Tropic Thunder was also one of those top ten simply because of the conversation and thoughts it provoked among many. If we’re counting the top ten best moments or most wonderful, sacrificial, fantastic special needs moms, then no – I wouldn’t think Palin would be or should be included in the list. I simply think that when she was put in the limelight, it provoked quite a bit of conversation across the country, among both special needs families and those that have never experienced anything close to a disability or living with someone that has one. Whether or not Palin herself is actually very provocative, the spotlight on her made disabilities national news – for the better or worse? That’s not the point I thought (and I think it was a mix of both). I thought the question was whether it was a top ten moment. If you go back to rephrase the title by saying “top ten BEST moments of/for special needs families” then I’ll take back my thoughts.
But anything that brings disabilities and opportunity for awareness into a national light on such an intense level, could be considered as being included in a “top ten” list for that topic. I’m not defending Palin herself or her politics or her choice to have or not have Trig (and regardless of what her religion decrees, she still had a choice – religion doesn’t take away choice), just that her situation (working mother with new baby, new baby that has special needs) brought a lot of conversation into light about how people really feel about these situations in general – not just in special need family circles but everywhere, in every social setting, these topics were discussed (disabilities, working mothers and abortion). I do believe that it brought opportunity for awareness on a lot of fronts and a lot of people learned or changed their perceptions about disabilities, working mothers and maybe even abortion (not very sure about this last one). I really, really hate the defense behind Tropic Thunder, but it’s presence allowed me the opportunity to talk with quite a few about language, respect and rights of those living with disabilities in a way that I might not have otherwise had the chance were it not for the movie. Not liking the movie (or the person or the motives behind their stardom), doesn’t change the fact that they were national news that brought opportunity to discuss and help change perceptions and ideas about those living with disabilities and their families to people that might not ordinarily have given us that chance or opening for discussion.
Absolutely
>> Would you consider the choice of Sarah Palin, special needs mother, as a Top 10 Moment in the annals of special needs families in 2008?
For “special needs”? Wake me up when there is a diagnosed ASC, or a Down Syndrome nomination, or even someone with a mental illness in their past openly running (paging Senator Thomas Eagleton).
>> A couple of pieces on Palin having amniocentesis
Holy crap! She actually had that done? I had assumed she would have just had the [zero risk] ultrasound looking for the gap. If you aren’t going to seriously consider abortion I don’t get why you’d have an amniocentesis done. That’s crazy, or disingenuous in hoping “something goes ‘wrong’, oops”.
…or I suppose Door #3, future political capital of being able to wrap yourself in the flag of “see, I’m all about ProLife, I knew 100% but I still went ahead”. The ultrasound screening tests aren’t fully 100% accurate, and I don’t think the 11-14 week one tells you exactly what the genetic problem is if it suggests there is one.
Let’s say Sarah Palin was considering an abortion should the test reveal a genetic abnormality. What matters is that knowing her son had Down’s Syndrome, she kept the child.
People can snipe at her for the way she talks, her naivety about foreign affairs, her religious beliefs, and other idle gossip. But you cannot deny that she did what is good in keeping the child.
It does not make her a top ten candidate. Parents all over the world so the same every day without notoriety.
Consider prior. Make you choice.
Then test if it is relevant to your choice.
This test is not without risk. The number we were given 4 years back, before the ultrasound screening was in place, was about 1 in 200 resulted in death. Perhaps it’s better now, don’t know. But that isn’t testing you do on a whim … if you’ve got your sense about you and aren’t willing to [needlessly] risk the child’s life.
Tyler, it sounds as if you and your wife would have had the pregnancy terminated had the test revealed a genetic defect.
Many parents have the test done without having made a decision about what to do or they want to be prepared.
Many Down’s children are whisked off to surgery to repair a heart defect. It would be less traumatic if parents could prepare.
There are lots of reasons to think Sarah Palin a bad choice for high office, but your posts reveal animosity toward her.
“…What matters is that knowing her son had Down’s Syndrome, she kept the child.”
Certainly that reality seems pertinent.
Why it’s done
Amniocentesis is done for different reasons at different stages of pregnancy…”
Mayo Clinic
(Who would be a public figure? Not me.)