Sarah Palin on Sex Ed

By Emily Douglas, RH Reality Check. Posted October 24, 2008.

In 2006, when asked whether she would support funding for "abstinence-until-marriage education instead of for explicit sex-education programs," Sarah Palin wrote, "the explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support."

In 2008, at the tail end of a vice-presidential campaign and now the mother of a pregnant 18-year-old: Palin tells People magazine, "[W]e have not been ones to say that students, should not know what preventive measures are all about ... When have I ever said that there should be no sex education taught in our homes or even in our schools?"

When asked by interviewer Sandra Sobieraj Westfall, "Abstinence or contraception?" Palin responds, "Well, both."

Palin even says, "I've been taken aback by some criticism that mainstream media has thrown my way saying, Oh, what a hypocrite she is and she's now learned her lesson because she's been against sex education in the schools. And I'm like, when? Where?"

Well, Sarah Palin, tell it to the Republican Party -- and tell your running mate, too.

John McCain has said "I think I support the President's policy" on sex ed.

The President's policy has been to shovel over $1 billion federal dollars at abstinence-only programs. The Republican Party, meanwhile, recently "renew[ed] our call for replacing family planning programs for teens with increased funding for abstinence education." They also, in case you thought there was an ambiguity, stated that they "oppose school-based clinics that provide referrals, counseling, and relative services for abortion and contraception."

And maybe Palin's religious right base should get a heads up, too -- after all, commenting on Bristol Palin's pregnancy, President of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse Leslee Unruh said, "Abstinence works. It works every single time ... Blaming sex education for the failures of people who make a mistake is not fair."

Here's the relevant portion of the People interview:

SW: Has this changed how you talk about sex with your other children?

SP: I've always been a proponent of making sure kids understand -- even in schools -- they'd better take preventative measures so that they don't find themselves in these less than ideal circumstances. Perhaps Bristol could be a good example to other young women that life happens and preventative measures are, first and foremost, the option that should be considered --

SW: Do you mean abstinence or contraception?

SP: Well, both. Ideally abstinence. But we have not been ones to say that students, should not know what preventive measures are all about. I've been taken aback by some criticism that mainstream media has thrown my way saying, Oh, what a hypocrite she is and she's now learned her lesson because she's been against sex education in the schools. And I'm like, when? Where? When have I ever said that there should be no sex education taught in our homes or even in our schools?

SW: As a new Grandma, it's going to be hard if you're in Washington and the new baby is going to be so far away --

SP: We've always had very flexible schedules --

TP: Very flexible schedules --

SP: -- and probably quite unconventional, but it's always worked and our family and our faith and those things that we so believe in comes first and we've always made this all work.

See more stories tagged with: abstinence, sex ed, sarah palin

Emily Douglas is the Assistant Editor at RH Reality Check.

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