In a routine internet search for the news, I followed a link to a fascinating New York Times article “Palin fuses motherhood and politics in a new way”. The author, Jodi Kantor carefully avoids the more obvious abuse of Sarah Palin by the media, concerning her ability to simultaneously serve as mother and public official. However this quote caught my eye: “In just a few months, she has gone from hiding her pregnancy from those closest to her to toting her infant on stage at the Republican National Convention.”

As a prolife mother, I feel it’s my place to explain to reporters another significant reason why a woman, sharing my beliefs about abortion, might conceal a pregnancy when there is an untoward fetal diagnosis. Each time a mom like us mentions that her unborn child has been diagnosed with a disability, she risks hearing the suggestion that she ought to abort. This suggestion might come from coworkers, friends or even family members. With it comes a piece of information that we’d rather not know: someone we care about believes that it’s OK to kill a baby prior to birth. It’s a sad bit of news, each time it happens. Even having a few kids in rapid succession as I did, later in life, can bring this kind of information.. But moms who obtain a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome are expected to abort, and 80 to 90 percent of them actually do.
I dodged most of the problems of prenatal diagnosis and the information it could have brought about people in my life. I refused the alpha-fetoprotein tests each time. It was necessary to sign a release form, since physicians (including those with don’t do abortions) need protection from the lawyers of patients who change their minds. Obstetricians are real lawyer-bait.

Other prolife moms might want to consider this. The prenatal testing isn’t mandatory, For now, it remains your Choice, whether or not to have it. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.