So, was Palin trying to have an abortion?

[Onlooker]

I know people here have been talking about this, but I didn't really follow the story until I read this, and it really is extremely strange. If it's true, it seems to me she was hoping to lose the baby or exercising absolutely terrible judgment. Is there another possibility?

http://www.cadenhead.org/workbench/news/3395/sarah-palins-questionable-judgment

...

One bit of weirdness associated with Palin concerns the birth of her youngest child. As the Alaskan media reported, Palin was attending an energy conference in Texas on April 18 when her water broke four weeks before her due date. After this happened, Palin didn't head to a hospital or even leave the conference, even though the premature rupture of fetal membrances is normally a cause for an immediate examination by an obstetrician, who will observe the fetus on a monitor to guard against infection and other life-threatening complications. Two other reasons for heightened concern were Palin's age, 43, and the fact that prenatal testing indicated the child had Down syndrome.

Palin stayed at the conference and delivered a 30-minute speech, then boarded a 12-hour Alaska Airlines flight from Dallas to Anchorage, neglecting to tell the airline her water had broken -- most airlines won't fly a woman in labor. The motivation for all of this appears to be the Palins' desire that the child be born in Alaska. Her husband Todd told the Anchorage Daily News, "You can't have a fish picker from Texas."

When she arrived home, Palin was hospitalized immediately and the baby was born prematurely after labor was induced in the middle of the night.

[valerief]

1. O rshe didn't and just said she did. Whatever. nt

[greguganus]

2. Hmmm....n/t

[PBS Poll-435]

3. My favorite part of this whole silly matter

Is how the flight keeps getting longer.

Yesterday it was 7 hours.

Today it's 12 hours

Tomorrow it will be a brazillion hours.

[Zomby Woof]

9. 12 hours is closer to the truth

Most people don't know just how far north Alaska is. In any event, regardless of the flight's length - the fact she endangered her life and the baby's just for STATE PRIDE is a sign of how pathologically narcissistic and creepy right-wing loonies are.

[helderheid]

16. It makes NO sense. Born 2 months pre-maturely after water broke in TX and she

continued her speech (that is in and of itself downright nuts - don't you think everyone would notice??) and then risked both her and the child's life to travel 12 hours back to Alaska?

Either,

A) She's totally fucking nuts and those with her were nuts enough to indulge her and this insane behavior or

B) She was pulling a Bree Van de Kamp.

[musette_sf]

19. although i had to look up Bree Van de Kamp

(not being a Desperate Housewives viewer), yes, great minds do think alike!

:thumbsup:

[helderheid]

21. :) Sorry bout that. I'm a total DHW fan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqPIC_fMFnQ&eurl=http://www.boxxet.com/Marcia_Cross/Video:Bree_Van_Der_Kamp_and_common_courtesy_16l7h8/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoUOPOmgU6Y&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkwvlyDBU2s

[ladywnch]

22. it's about a 4 hour flight from Seattle to Anchorage and figure

another 3 from Dallas to Seattle......I'd flown from Anchorage to Pittsburgh and it wasn't 12 hours....granted closer to 12 if you take time zone changes into account but not actually airborn hours.

[Onlooker]

11. Looking at sidestep

All the flight from Dallas or Houston to Juneau require one to change planes, and the shortest flight is 9 hours 5 minutes, but there are many that have longer stopovers. That said, if she had a private plane take her direct, it would have taken only about 7 hours.

[Barack_America]

24. She flew Alaska Airlines with a layover in Seattle...

Not a private plane as first suspected. That's the main reason the estimated flight time increased.

[musette_sf]

4. the stories are just so weird

it's either:

* she's a nut who thinks nothing of risking her life and the life of her fetus, OR
* she's a nut who is passing off her teen daughter's baby as hers in an attempt to preserve her daughter's public virtue.

either way, she's just plain nuts.

[MrsBrady]

10. either way it's bad. you are right. nuts either way. n/t

[CTyankee]

14. No, she prolly fudged on the water breaking. The story didn't say that a doctor

saw her and confirmed that her water broke. SHE said it did, for whatever strange reason, maybe just to brag about how tough she is. After all, it is a lie that didn't cost her anything, really. They already knew the baby had Downs Syndrome so she can't be accused of causing that. She may be just one of those glory seekers whose lives are so awful she has to make shit up. It has been known to happen LOTS of times...

[helderheid]

17. LOL! See post #16 - I posted before reading yours

:thumbsup:

[The Traveler]

5. At the very least

this behavior shows very bad judgment. As does giving up the schedule, MOS, and destination of her son. (Poor boy now has a bulls eye tattooed on his ass. Bet his team mates aren't very happy about the extra attention, either.)

[Junkdrawer]

6. Check this comment from a medical professional....

As a medical professional who lives in Anchorage, I can safely assure you that this situation did in fact occur, and was reported in the April 22, 2008 Anchorage Daily News (www.ADN.com).


The medical community here in Anchorage was horrified of the news of this "heroic" adventure of Governor Palin. It was an incredibly egregious decision that risked the life of Palin's unborn child. It also set a poor example for others to follow....a public safety issue.


Several well-respected physicians spoke with my physician husband on different occasions and came up with the same conclusion: she was trying to kill the baby. No other reasonable explanation could be derived from this act of shear stupidity and shameless self-promotion. A Down's child would forever be a burden to her; many have already criticized her insatiable need for a national level political position over the necessity of raising a special needs child.


Myself, I think the escapade gives credence to the "she's the baby's grandma" theory. Actually, that theory make Palin look better, IMHO.

[MrsBrady]

13. can you give a more specific link? I'm trying to find it.

thanks! :)

[Junkdrawer]

18. Here

http://www.cadenhead.org/workbench/news/3395/sarah-palins-questionable-judgment#281966

[helderheid]

23. I agree - I can understand that decision if that was the case!

[Junkdrawer]

26. Here's the referenced adn.com article...

...

Still, a Sacramento, Calif., obstetrician who is active in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said when a pregnant woman's water breaks, she should go right to the hospital because of the risk of infection. That's true even if the amniotic fluid simply leaks out, said Dr. Laurie Gregg.

"To us, leaking and broken, we are talking the same thing. We are talking doctor-speak," Gregg said.

Some airlines have policies against pregnant women onboard during the last four weeks of pregnancy, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists advises against flying after 36 weeks.

This was going to be Palin's last flight anyway, her doctor said.

Alaska Airlines has no such rule and leaves the decision to the woman and her doctor, said spokeswoman Caroline Boren. Palin was very pleasant to the gate agents and flight attendants, as always, Boren said.

"The stage of her pregnancy was not apparent by observation. She did not show any signs of distress," Boren said.

Palin never got big with this pregnancy. She said she didn't try to hide it but didn't feel a need to alert the airline, either.

They landed in Anchorage around 10:30 p.m. Thursday and an hour later were at the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center in Wasilla.

...

http://www.adn.com/626/story/382864.html

[dailykoff]

7. I'm interested in this " energy conference in Texas"

she couldn't tear herself away from. Something tells me it isn't just her compelling life story that made her the perfect second banana for Big Oil's new stooge.

[elocs]

8. So now we question how Palin made her decisions in how she had her baby?

I thought it wasn't supposed to be her baby anyways. Hey, maybe it's an alien. Maybe she's an alien. (Sorry, I'm watching ALF at the moment.)

[redqueen]

12. "You can't have a fish picker from Texas."

Hahaha... I was wondering what that was about... I've heard things about some Texans not being too happy about McPain's pick... now I get it. :)

[rainbow4321]

28. And a dead baby can't grow up to be a fish picker, either

If her and Mclame don't make my head explode before Election Day, it will be a miracle.

"After four kids, the governor said, she knew what labor felt like, and she wasn't in labor".

"This was going to be Palin's last flight anyway, her doctor said"

"It just feels like he fits perfectly," Palin said. "He is supposed to be here with us."

----
Just as I said earlier, had the baby died inflight, it would have been "he just wasn't meant to be with us".

[ecstatic]

15. Either those two things or a cover up for her daughter

She sounds like an obnoxious asshole.

[yasmina27]

20. I think Palin's an idiot

Don't get me wrong. She's the wrong pick for the repukes on so many levels. Personally, I think she was picked because the others on the "short list" saw the train wreck coming for McSame, and declined to hop on board, since they have future political hopes.

However, regarding her decision to go home after her water broke: A child is considered full-term at 36 weeks, even if diagnosed with health issues. Conventional medical wisdom is that if the amniotic sac breaks, labor must be induced within 24 hours, if it does not occur naturally. This is what happened with my daughter. My water broke at 38 weeks, and I had no labor. I was in the hospital 22 hours later hooked up to pitocin.

With my second daughter, we specifically wrote, after EXTENSIVE research, in our birthing plan, that should my water break again with no labor, I did not want to be induced until 48 hrs. had lapsed. I had learned that there is NO risk to the baby until then. Fortunately, that was not a concern for us.

So while there is plenty to criticize and make fun of her for, IMO, this is a non-issue. Apparently, she knew that she had time, even with a 12 hour flight. As far as the flight goes, she was NOT in labor, just because her water broke.

[Barack_America]

25. I agree with you except...

This was her fifth child and she embarked on two long flights. Not exactly intelligent, wise or safe. It was very likely that she could have gone into labor and given birth on one of those planes. And with a known special needs child, I just don't know why anyone would risk that.

But to suggest she was trying to kill the child? That goes absolutely too far, IMO.

[MrsBrady]

27. ok found it

here's the article from April 22nd.

Her doctor is quoted in this one.


http://www.adn.com/626/story/382864.html

Anybody on DU a medical doctor? any MDs with an opinion on this?

[Narkos]

29. Not an OB, but travelling after spontaneous/premature ruputure

of the membranes is probably not a good idea. Usually it means labor is imminent, and at the very least she should've been checked out, verified that there were good fetal heart tones and no active labor and no infection. In other words, she took a big risk by doing what she did. And she might get to be President? Good Lord!

[Bluerthanblue]

30. here is a curious link I stumbled on-

note the date, the fact that she was traveling with her younger daughter, and the mention of her being pregnant.????

There were several of us PolarTRECers waiting in the Fairbanks, AK airport to catch our planes home. We were chatting about all we had learned when Kristen Timm, ARCUS administrator said “ Look, there is the Hottest Governor in the United States” as she has been publicly deemed by media and fans.

Of course I had to check out the “Hottest Governor in the US” and quickly turned to see her pregnant (she has since had her baby) with bags and daughter in tote. Then it struck me as odd. Why is the Governor of Alaska in the airport and preparing to get onto my commercial flight?

>>>>>>> approached the Governor and told her a little bit about PolarTREC and why I was in Alaska. She told me that she knew of the program and then introduced me to her adorable daughter Piper. We chatted about Florida and Barrow, Alaska and flying commercial. She said she really enjoys and prefers flying with people who either live in or are visiting Alaska. She even flies coach! She was kind enough to take several photos with me.

Elizabeth Eubanks with Governor Sarah Palin and her daughter Piper in the Fairbanks, AK airport
While waiting for a flight home after PolarTREC orientation I had the chance to chat with Governor Palin and her daughter Piper.



I invited Governor Sarah Palin to come visit me on my expedition to Barrow in June. She said she would love to and that I should drop her an email, which I will do.

http://www.polartrec.com/node/3944
This IS a very bizarre story.

[MrsBrady]

32. the woman says in her blog...

that when she saw Palin it was in MARCH....
so it looks like she POSTED that info in April 27th or 29th or whatever.


Palin had her baby on April 18th or there 'bouts.

So that just must have been another day when she was traveling in MARCH....BEFORE she had the baby.
I think you misunderstood that.


But if this woman says that she saw her pregnant in March...then we at least can have some kind of confirmation that it was actually Palin that was pregnant, and not the daughter.

[Bluerthanblue]

33. I DID misunderstand, or

read right over that. Thanks for correcting me.

That makes a LOT more sense. I noticed the date of the posting, and the date she wrote the entry, and completely missed the "March" refrence.

:silly:

:hi:

Thanks for setting me straight.

[WinkyDink]

31. No.