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Sad and Ironic: Palin Vetoed Funding for Teen Moms

Yet another example of how the religious right insists babies be born, but then fails to support the babies, their mothers, and their families afterward. This is a classic story with a newly relevant twist. The WaPo:

After the legislature passed a spending bill in April, [Alaska Governor Sarah] Palin went through the measure reducing and eliminating funds for programs she opposed. Inking her initials on the legislation -- "SP" -- Palin reduced funding for Covenant House Alaska by more than 20 percent, cutting funds from $5 million to $3.9 million. Covenant House is a mix of programs and shelters for troubled youths, including Passage House, which is a transitional home for teenage mothers.
According to Passage House's web site, its purpose is to provide "young mothers a place to live with their babies for up to eighteen months while they gain the necessary skills and resources to change their lives" and help teen moms "become productive, successful, independent adults who create and provide a stable environment for themselves and their families."

As Michelle Cottle notes at TNR, "A politician who opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest and who opposes comprehensive sex education should be at the forefront of championing support systems that make it easier for young mothers to keep their babies."






Comments

This is a reduction in an expansion of funds... They received 3 times as much from her as the year before...

Posted by: yarrrrrr on 09/03/08 at 9:33 AM  Respond

Seriously? How can you honestly call INCREASING the funding for this program from 1.1 million to 3.9 million a DECREASE? Quit drinking the KoolAid, kids, it's destroying what brain cells you have left.

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/03/new-palin-smear-she-slashed-funding-for-pregnant-teens-by-um-expanding-it/

Posted by: eli on 09/03/08 at 11:06 AM  Respond

What would happen if Sarah Palin did not have the resources to help her pregnant teenage daughter? I was not sexually active at her age! It wasnt 'cause I didn't try. All the girls I knew could not avoid the eye of their parents. I was a teenager in the early 1990s. Wow!!! But, she gets married and it is alright? My Grandpa always described those type of weddings a s Shotgun weddings.

Posted by: andy on 09/03/08 at 11:11 AM  Respond

"A politician who opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest and who opposes comprehensive sex education should be at the forefront of championing support systems that make it easier for young mothers to keep their babies."

Heaven help us if we should even dare to consider the possibility that there could be support systems developed by anyone but the government!!
As we all know, and believe with all our hearts: The government is here to HELP us, because we can't help ourselves and won't help our neighbors without the gov't gun at our head.
(never mind that private charity giving dwarfs what the gov't spends on charitable programs, and always has)

Posted by: Inside The Box Thinkers on 09/03/08 at 12:55 PM  Respond

"A politician who opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest and who opposes comprehensive sex education should be at the forefront of championing support systems that make it easier for young mothers to keep their babies."

Heaven help us if we should even dare to consider the possibility that there could be support systems developed by anyone but the government!!
As we all know, and believe with all our hearts: The government is here to HELP us, because we can't help ourselves and won't help our neighbors without the gov't gun at our head.
(never mind that private charity giving dwarfs what the gov't spends on charitable programs, and always has)

That is missing the point. "Values" conservatives such as Palin feel it is governments place to restrict individuals rights to abortion, so in turn the government does have a responsibility to help provide for those children once they are born. So far as in school sex eduction is concerned, I don't think anyone is advocating teaching values or morals, just facts A+B=C. Palin may have raised the budget for Covenant House from last year, but she decreased the new, higher amount proposed by her state legislature, a body that has special committees devoted to researching particular programs and making budgeting recommendations based on in depth research. Palin is only one person and could not possibly have such aquired knowlage of every program

Posted by: kelizabeth on 09/03/08 at 2:25 PM  Respond

Anyone notice how she slashed funding in half for a community food bank? To Palin/McCain thralls, how Christian is that to deny the needy of food aid? Jesus would be proud!

Posted by: Jay on 09/03/08 at 5:11 PM  Respond

kelizabeth, jay,

Sarah Palin, while qualified to be VP and President, is not suitable for the position. Neither is Barack Obama, John McCain, or Joe Biden. While they are all qualified, for the posts they seek, they are not "SUITABLE" FOR THE POSTS THEY SEEK. There is a difference people. Ideologues of any stripe are not suited to govern because they will never understand the basic principle that every problem has a different solution. Ideologues and NEO-CONS don't get it, never have gotten it, and never will get it. But one set of ideologues or another will be elected, and that will only continue American's slide into failure.

Posted by: Reed Richards on 09/03/08 at 6:23 PM  Respond

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