Alaska: 2006 Gubernatorial Candidate Questionnaire (Including Palin's Stance on Abstinence Only Education)

I disagree Brian.

The thing here that most people aren't seeing is that the question posed two options in a methodology that actually have more than two facets.

I think the appropriate answer would have been that she would support education except explicit sex-ed programs. There is Abstinence only (the position people put Palin in), Explicit Sex-Ed (the sex-ed without abstinence and with emphasis on anatomy and the alleged framing of homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle), and then comprehensive sex ed (what most people get, which included contraceptives and abstinence, sometimes equally). The thing here is that sex-ed isn't a black and white issue any more or less than abortion. Politically it's dangerous to answer the question without first getting clarification or giving it, and yes, Palin fell into that.

There are several "abstinence" programs that most people are not aware of also. Some of them, not a great idea, and others that could be better. So we now enter a grey area in the "abstinence only" ground as well. See, if we look specifically at the 'until married' clause and look to what it includes:

teach abstinence as the only morally correct option of sexual expression for unmarried young people. Programs funded under the 1996 Welfare Reform Act must censor information about the health benefits of contraception and condoms for the prevention of STIs and unintended pregnancy

This is like comprehensive "lite". it doesn't omit the contraceptive objects, but does omit the benefits (which does render it kind of useless, but it's excluded from mention). It's a loophole and semantic game of sorts, I'll admit that.

So right now, I guess.. the real question would be... is it "opposed" or "opposes"?

"Palin said last month that no woman should have to choose between her career, education and her child. She is pro-contraception and said she's a member of a pro-woman but anti-abortion group called Feminists for Life."

-source

So here, in an article published in 2006 as well, has Palin referring other self as pro-contraceptive. Again, we're in murky waters on her 'abstinence only' remark. But, the thing is that the choices given didn't reflect her true position. She answered the question with the closest actual position. It's known she prefers abstinence, but also supports contraceptives. Explicit sex ed doesn't mention abstinence at all.

So, great. Her families values say don't abort. *Her* family is extremely wealthy. *Her* family will never have to choose between college and a career. *Her* family is so far removed from the situations middle-class and/or poor families face when confronted with a pregnancy which can be responsibly ended within days of discovering pregnancy that it's small wonder she can make the easy to choice to go forward, without fear of birthing a baby which they cannot provide for.

Well, she did say that Bristol will have to grow up faster than they expected or wanted her to, so I take that to mean that Bristol will have to do a lot of it herself with her would be fiancée.

Did you happen to look at Biden and abstinence? Palin hasn't given any money to teaching her alleged position. Perhaps it shows that it's really NOT her position.

(slightly off topic)

One thing I was impressed with in one of the earlier Republican debates was when Ron Paul was asked about the death penalty and explicitly said that he had changed his mind about that and explained why he had done so. I wish more candidates would do that. Instead of pretending that you have always held a certain position or just hoping no one notices, just admit that you learned something new or were convinced by some new arguments and therefore changed your mind. That makes you seem much more intelligent and less like you're just pandering.

If Biden has changed his mind about that issue then he should say so explicitly and tell us why. I'd feel a lot more comfortable if I knew that he changed his mind for the right reasons.

"...Explicit Sexual Education is distinctly compared to comprehensive sexual education.."

it's a fence sitting exercise.

Please point me somewhere -- not a right wing talking point site -- in which Explicit Sexual Education is distinctly compared to comprehensive sexual education...?

As Cletus said, it is a fence sitting exercise. I've not been able to find a single site that distinctly compares the two. Neither have you, or you probably wouldn't have asked.

Please point me somewhere -- not a right wing talking point site

I don't recall doing so, to this point. I would think this debate wouldn't call for that. this is not totally a partisan topic. Besides, I thought we were being fair? In any event, if I did point you to one, which one had I pointed you to?

Comprehensive sex ed teaches the same things as explicit sex ed, but includes abstinence and sexuality.

I'm not sure where you got my links as being from a right wing talking point site.

I can't wait to see how she answers questions during a debate, because I think they'll be framed in a way that she'll be forced to own up to her own stances.

I think they will to, and I hope they are. I agree with direct "essay answer" questioning. I hope she answers them honestly and with clarifications when need.

And, when someone takes a black and white stance on an issue with grey areas, you can only go by what they've stated.

But you've got to take into account the framing of the question; it's important too.

My suspicion is that fundamentalists are attempting to rename comprehensive sex ed with a more illicit sounding name, in order to make it easier to object to or at the very least making an effort to make more of an uncommon variant that it warrants.

Really? I would think the opposite. if what you're saying here (as in the comment I'm responding to in whole) is that explicit sex ed and comprehensive sex ed are one in the same, then I would think that the progressives are attempting to push the term "comprehensive" to make it harder to object to. I believe this becuase the A-only sex ed was pushed in 96, the alternative was 'explicit sex-ed. Later comprehensive sex ed started to appear with inclusion of sexuality, so... in this case, the chicken came first.

She's come put and flatly said this. And, the 'rumor' that she would still decide this even if her daughter was raped, is as far as I can tell, true. It does sound like a horrible thing to say, but... at least she isn't playing favorites.