Thursday, November 12, 2009

Opinion

Sarah Palin Lacks the Maturity, Smarts of Her Single, Teen Mom Daughter Bristol

March 12, 2009 10:35 AM ET | Bonnie Erbe | Permanent Link | Print

A description of this blog post which appeared on USNews.com should have described Bristol Palin as a single mother.

By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.

So now it is written that Bristol Palin, unwed teenage daughter of former U.S. vice-presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, has ended the relationship with the father of her baby.

From where I sit, Bristol Palin displays a lot more personal maturity and decision-making ability than her mother, who obviously tried to persuade Bristol to wed her "baby daddy." But the youthful pair never looked like a loving couple. They looked like what they were: two sexually active teens who happened to "hook up" but had nothing beyond that in common. Besides, who wants to marry the son of a woman who's brought up on drug charges?

Is this good for her mother's political career? Obviously not. Social conservatives believe strongly the daughter should have been forced into marriage.

From where I sit, Bristol should have been using birth control, and never should have gotten pregnant in the first place. If she weren't the progeny of abstinence-only education supporters, she might have been on the pill or using a diaphragm, or might even have been able to use Plan B, the so-called morning after pill. It's a shame for poor Bristol who has some wisdom and spunk to her. She said in interviews she's not ready to be a mother and it's not a glamorous endeavor.

It's a shame for the baby, to be born to unwed teen parents who are ill-equipped to parent at that young age. It's a shame all around, as is abstinence-only education.

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Tags: teen pregnancy | abstinence | Sarah Palin

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About Bonnie Erbe

Bonnie Erbe is a contributing editor at U.S. News & World Report and hosts PBS's weekly news analysis program, To the Contrary with Bonnie Erbe. She also writes a weekly syndicated newspaper column for Scripps Howard News Service.

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