So, I’m sorry to keep talking about Sarah Palin, but the fact of the matter is that there is a lot to talk about, and all of it seems pretty darned interesting to me. And it should be interesting to my American readers as well, because I think that Palin is going to become a major force in this election. The McCain campaign is going to use her as much as it possibly can, and that means that we are going to be seeing and hearing a lot from her.

I actually don’t want to talk about Sarah today, I want to talk about her daughter Bristol. Now, there has been a fair amount of argument that Bristol’s pregnancy is not a topic open to discussion, from feminists, right-wing crazies, and Barack Obama, among others. But the fact of the matter is that the Republicans have made it a topic of discussion by politicizing pregnancy, so I feel like it’s fair game.

Watching the Daily Show last week, my favourite segment was the one where Samantha Bee went around asking people about Bristol’s pregnancy, trying to get people to say the word “choice.” She got a lot of circumlocutions, most of which focused on “well the government and the media should stay out of people’s private lives,” and “there are lots of options.” It was a pretty awesome segment, and I heartily encourage anyone who hasn’t watched it to do so. Feministing kindly linked to the specific segment I am thinking of.

John Stewart also had Newt Gingrich as a guest, and there was a pretty awesome exchange between the two of them about the abortion issue.

John Stewart: Sarah Palin is on record as saying she would veto abortions for women, even in the event of being raped. So she is in essence saying ‘respect my family’s ability to make this decision, and elect me, so that I can keep your family from having the same opportunity.’

Newt Gingrich: That’s…no. That’s not true.

John Stewart: That strikes me as hypocrisy.

Newt Gingrich: No. What’s she’s saying is you and she can have a policy debate about whether or not Obama’s decision defending infanticide by abortion doctors was appropriate in the Illinois legislature.  Or, whether-

John Stewart: No no no. Wait a second. No-

Newt Gingrich: -unintelligible

John Stewart (talking over Gingrich): I understand…her words…not talking about Obama here…abortion even in the case of rape.

Newt Gingrich: -yes that’s right. And so you can see that Obama’s position in the Illinois state legislature was one extreme, her position may be the other extreme. That’s a policy debate.

John Stewart (talking over Gingrich): But when it comes down to her family, she says respect her decision.

Newt Gingrich: No, she says respect the privacy of her daughter-

John Stewart: She said it was Bristol’s decision-

Newt Gingrich: -very different than-

John Stewart: -that was their press release. It was Bristol’s decision.

Newt Gingrich: Right, and Bristol’s decision was to keep the child because-

John Stewart: That is not a word for choice.

Newt Gingrich: -because in Alaska today-

John Stewart: Right.

Newt Gingrich: -…may have children.

John Stewart: Right. I’m just saying, if she was President, that choice would be removed from the family and the government would make it, and that’s why I think it’s a legitimate issue.

Zing! Have I mentioned that I love John Stewart?

Bristol’s pregnancy, which should indeed be a personal matter, has become a public issue because the Republicans have turned it into one. And they can’t even stay consistent. They say they don’t want the government interfering in people’s lives, yet they support intrusive interference in a very private part of people’s lives. They scream for “privacy” for Governor Palin and her family, while looking up the skirts of everyone else.

I wish that Bristol could see her pregnancy out in private, and I hope that she has a healthy pregnancy and a reasonably easy birth, at least as easy as these things go. But the fact of the matter is that she has been turned into a political pawn, willingly or not, and this means that she is going to attract a lot of scrutiny. Her family is going to attract a lot of scrutiny.

And while I respect the arguments that people are making, that the family should be left alone, I respectfully disagree. I will stop talking about this issue when the Republicans agree to stop trying to abridge my personal and private freedom to choose, and when they start living up to the claims that government shouldn’t interfere in people’s personal lives.

“Freedom isn’t free” is something the Republicans are fond of saying. Now I see why. Bristol got to make a choice (presumably). If her mother is elected, that choice may be taken away from every other woman in America.

Are you angry yet? Because you should be.