Bristol Palin is back in the news, announcing via her blog that she is pregnant with her second child. This comes after canceling her wedding last month to Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer. Certain news outlets lost no time snarking about the 24-year-old single mother being pregnant once again.
The most astonishing of these was from Gawker, with a headline that reads, ‘Bristol Palin Makes Great Argument For Abortion in Baby Announcement.’ The article goes on to say:Bristol barely suppresses her extreme dread at the thought of having another child.
“I wanted you guys to be the first to know that I am pregnant,” she writes. “Honestly, I’ve been trying my hardest to keep my chin up on this one.”
Eeek. She continues:
“At the end of the day there’s nothing I can’t do with God by my side, and I know I am fully capable of handling anything that is put in front of me with dignity and grace. “Life moves on no matter what. So no matter how you feel, you get up, get dressed, show up, and never give up.”
Well…
“When life gets tough, there is no other option but to get tougher. I know this has been, and will be, a huge disappointment to my family, to my close friends, and to many of you.”
Yikes! It sounds like nobody, least of all Bristol, wants her to have this baby?
Seriously? That’s the most ridiculous and cynical take-away possible from Bristol’s announcement. Not to mention that it deliberately misconstrues what she’s saying.
Seven years ago I was in Bristol’s shoes, and I probably would have written something very similar. I too, was disappointed in myself, my family and my friends with an unplanned pregnancy when I was 24.
Another similarity: my daughter’s father and I had broken up three weeks before I found out I was expecting her. This might seem odd to Gawker, but from the moment after I saw that double pink line, I (and my family) loved my daughter unconditionally. Coming from a very religious conservative family, there was definitely disappointment when I first told everyone, but they were also pragmatic and knew that the only chance to make it better was to be as supportive as possible. For me, I had to learn humility, accept responsibility, and assure everyone I was ready to be a mother; which is exactly what Bristol Palin was doing in her announcement.
To suggest that what she is saying when she expresses “disappointment” in being unmarried and pregnant again is that she doesn’t want her child is a gross misinterpretation of what she was trying to convey. The human capacity for emotion allows us to be disappointed, yet feel elated at the same time.
The only thing she seems to be in “extreme dread” over is how the media “trolls” will treat her, her son Tripp, and her new baby under the circumstances.
What Gawker and other news/gossip websites are showing is their absolute ignorance of what it means to be pro-life. Even if Bristol Palin wasn’t who she is, and didn’t have personal resources available to her to make single-parenting easier, if she didn’t want the baby, then adoption – not abortion – is the best viable alternative for her or anyone in her position.
Do we all, conservatives and progressives alike, hope that children are born in the best of circumstances and with an intact family?
Of course.
Do we all, along with Bristol and her family, wish the circumstances were different?
Definitely.
Insinuating that Bristol Palin doesn’t want or love the child she’s carrying?Asinine. To balk at her use of the word “disappointment”? Ignorant.
But most of all, as a baby is already on the way, rather than a sarcastically glib, “Congrats on the baby!” we should be saying those words that mean so much to any expectant mother:
“Congratulations, Bristol.”