Bristol Palin, daughter of the infamous Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, appeared on both the Today Show and Good Morning America in recognition of the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Her message? For all teens to abstain from sex.
“Regardless of what I did personally, I just think that abstinence is the only way you can effectively, 100 percent foolproof way you can prevent pregnancy,” she said.
Palin was named Teen Ambassador for The Candie’s Foundation, which works to reduce teen pregnancy. The group is working with the governor’s daughter to educate teens on the drastic life change you experience having a child, an issue most teens don’t think about.
“You don’t have friends, can’t just go to the movies, get your hair done. You put your baby first,” she has said about having a child at her age.
She added that if she did not have Tripp, “I would have been to college out of state, hanging out with my friends, a lot more freedom,” Palin said.
In a US News & World Report interview with the organization’s spokesperson, Bill Albert, he explains why they chose Bristol Palin to be the face of this campaign.
“We’ve been asked several times, why would we work with Bristol Palin? My answer is, why wouldn’t we? She’s had the highest-profile teen pregnancy of the year. If we take her at her word—that she’s going to discuss the realities of being a teen mom—then that’s good.” He says teens need to hear Bristol’s message, which is essentially that she loves her child with all her heart and soul, but if she had it to do all over again, she would wait.
Recent data shows that there has been an increase in teen birthrates after years of decline. President Obama has indicated that his upcoming budget will shift money away from abstinence-only sex education towards evidence-based programs that teach both abstinence and contraception.
Levi Johnston, who has come out in several interviews saying that 100% abstinence is “unrealistic,” claims that even though he and Bristol used condoms most of the time, they occasionally “slipped up.”
While Bristol says her son is “not a mistake, he’s a blessing,” she says her goal is to save just one teenage girl from an unexpected pregnancy.
“I’m trying to tell them that this is 24-hour-a-day job,” she said. “It’s not like an accessory on your hip, it’s hard work.”
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Wants to tell teens when you have a baby, “you can’t get your hair done or go to the movies with your friends.”
