Patrick Healy's "Political Memo" today in the New York Times portrays Sarah and Todd Palin as pro-choice by misreporting what the Alaska governor said recently about when she was pregnant with son Trig. Here's how Healy reported remarks Palin made Saturday during a campaign rally in Johnstown, PA:
Kathy Seals, a Republican voter who attended the Richmond event, said she admired Ms. Palin for “unabashedly speaking the truth, especially about life and the choices she made about her baby, Trig, and with her daughter.” Ms. Palin’s infant son, who has Down syndrome, is a frequent presence in his mother’s left arm as she shakes hands with supporters and moves from event to event.
Her references to her son are the most personal part of her speech, as she describes being scared when she first learned that the baby would have special needs. She and her husband, Todd, talked, prayed, reflected and ultimately decided to have the child.
“There are the world’s standards of perfection, and that’s what you see in some magazines, and then there are God’s standards,” she said at the Ohio rally Sunday night and repeated in Virginia on Monday. “God’s standards are the final measure. Every child is beautiful before God, and dear to them for their own sake.”
Healey's characterization of the remarks is inaccurate - and betrays a pro-choice mindset that is the default setting for most journalists in the elite media.
Here is what Palin actually said:
When I learned that my son Trig would have special needs, I had to prepare my heart for the challenges to come. At first I was scared, and Todd and I had to ask for strength and understanding. But I can tell you a few things I’ve learned already.
Yes, every innocent life matters. Everyone belongs in the circle of protection. Every child has something to contribute to the world, if we give them that chance. There are the world’s standards of perfection … and then there are God’s, and these are the final measure. Every child is beautiful before God, and dear to Him for their own sake.
As for our beautiful baby boy, for Todd and me, he is only more precious because he is vulnerable. In some ways, I think we stand to learn more from him than he does from us. When we hold Trig and care for him, we don’t feel scared anymore. We feel blessed.
What Palin said was, in summary, when she and Todd learned that their unborn child, Trig, would have Down Syndrome, they were scared, yes, but they moved immediately to prepare for the challenge ahead, including through prayer:
"I had to prepare my heart for the challenges to come. At first I was scared, and Todd and I had to ask for strength and understanding."
Healy portrays it as the Palins struggling with the decision of whether or not to have Trig or abort him:
She and her husband, Todd, talked, prayed, reflected and ultimately decided to have the child.
In the elite media world, abortion is a considered a normal lifestyle choice and it considered unremarkable, even normal, that 90 percent of unborn Down Syndrome babies are aborted, so perhaps Healy can be forgiven for thinking the Palins, too, treated the unborn Trig's diagnosis of Down Syndrome as a moment of choice.
But the Palins are pro-life. Trig's diagnosis did not present them with a choice, it presented them with a challenge, one Sarah Palin says they met by relying on each other and their faith in God. The liberal pro-choice filter through with Healy and the New York Times views everything makes them unable to see this or report it correctly.
—Bill Hobbs is author of Who Is Fred Thompson, a blog-centric look at the presidential candidate.


















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Moral and legal choices
October 14, 2008 - 11:50 ET by KC MulvilleThere's a difference between a moral choice and legal choice. You have a moral choice about committing murder, and you might choose either way. But the fact that you can choose morally to commit murder doesn't give you a legal choice to do it. The state will not consider an act of murder to be a personal choice, and we won't "respect" your opinion on the matter. The ability to do something doesn't give you the right to do something.
Patrick Healy's inability to see the difference reveals a lack of depth and perspective. In other words, the guy's not perceptive enough to take seriously.
Actually she is right.
October 14, 2008 - 12:14 ET by Ruths husband BenActually she is right. Choosing to do what you believe to be right is still choosing. I admire Governor Palin because her actions are in alignment with her belief. Because of that, it would be unthinkable for her to choose abortion.
“But maybe you obviously have a better memory about that."- Wolf Blitzer
choice or not?
October 14, 2008 - 12:20 ET by Bill HobbsThe subtle difference is that Healy thinks Palin made the choice after getting Trig's diagnosis, when the Palins made the pro-life choice long before Trig existed at all. When they got the diagnosis, they didn't have to "choose" because their worldview precludes all choices other than letting Trig live.
The deeper difference is that the the pro-choice viewpoint is rooted in a belief that there are, actually, no real moral standards and no "right" and "wrong," while the pro-life view is rooted in a belief in a moral absolute that was decided not by man but by God.
Point taken (ceded). I
October 14, 2008 - 12:22 ET by Ruths husband BenPoint taken (ceded). I agree that Trig's diagnosis was not a decision point for Gov. Palin.
-Ben
“But maybe you obviously have a better memory about that."- Wolf Blitzer
Leave it to the NYTs to
October 14, 2008 - 12:23 ET by bigtimerLeave it to the NYTs to twist and spin her words...
It never ends with the msm...never.
....agenda/results are all that matters...but I wonder if they thought for one second this kind of spin may make other people who know nothing about Palin to vote for her because of the way they are spinning this.
What simpletons.
By the way she is going to be on Rush at the bottom of the hour for about 10 minuts or so...should be interesting.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
There are none so blind...
October 14, 2008 - 12:41 ET by Indiana JoePatrick Healy's choice of words says a lot about him. I don't even think it was a conscious decision to try to paint the Palins as hypocrites. But the whole column, while trying to appear as a "I'm just saying" type of thing, is obviously leery of Palin.
And it shows Healy's intrinsic bias. He seems to naturally presume that, when the Palins learned of their child's disability, abortion was an option on the table. Legally, it was. But Governor Palin never mentioned abortion or "choice" or even "decision" in the statement Healy quotes. Kathy Seals, the supporter he also quotes, mentions the "choices," and it seems Healy just assumed that "choice" meant "abortion."
He also re-visits her "love" of small towns, and seems puzzled about who the "they" are that may not share those sentiments. I was expecting him to argue that Palin was attacking big cities with that statement, like I've heard others presume. He didn't, overtly, but he just kind of left that thought out there.
He's a little more subtle than many lately, but it's still pretty clear where his loyalties lie. So much for the idea that "journalists" can separate their opinions from their jobs.
Jesus Christ was crucified by "community organizers."
If you expect anyone to
October 14, 2008 - 18:56 ET by IndigoChillIf you expect anyone to separate their opinions from their jobs, you'll always be disappointed.
Healy misquotes Palin on purpose
October 14, 2008 - 13:15 ET by c5thenThis is one of the basic skills of a 'journalist', quoting someone. Perhaps Healy needs a remedial course on "basic skills for journalists"? No. I think it was on purpose so as to enable healy to feel better about her own worldview. Either that, or it was an attempt at deceiving her readers. I wonder how many know that she got it wrong?