Do I understand correctly that Palin has a baby with Downs syndrome less than 6 months old? If true, then McCain has essentially given up the race. There is no way that a mother with a baby that young, particularly one with special needs would have the time to spend on the campaign trail in the next two months.
Amazing. You would not have said that to a man candidate.
--quotes are from the IP thread about John McCain announcing Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential nominee
So, I'm going to take another of my patented risks and bring up a topic that is probably going to make people scream, and get me banned from IP.
It's going to be considered sexist and politically incorrect, but that's okay; I know from IP and today's newspapers I'm not the only person thinking these thoughts, so I'm going to delight in being called a "Neanderthal" and a sexist b-rhymes with "rich". Hopefully, I will also get a few people to see where these concerns are coming from, and what impact they may have on others.
When John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his pick for Vice President, he spent a great deal of time talking about Trig, her 5 month old son, who was diagnosed in utero as having Down's Syndrome. Given his mother's age when she became pregnant with him, it was a very definite possibility.
Sarah and Todd Palin made a decision that not all agree with--they decided to have this baby, and by all accounts, he appears to be a little angel. Currently, it appears that Trig's older sisters are helping to care for him as they travel with their parents on the campaign trail.
However, Down's Syndrome children do not have an easy go in this life, even if their mother is the governor of Alaska and the family has an income of almost $243,000/year. Down's Syndrome children are frequently born with heart defects, specifically: Atrioventricular Septal Defect (formally called Endocardial Cushion Defect), Ventricular Septal Defect, Persistent Ductus Arteriosus and Tetralogy of Fallot. (information courtesy of the National Down's Syndrome Society website). It is not uncommon for Down's Syndrome babies to have heart surgery within six months of their birth to correct these issues. While Down's Syndrome children now live into their 50's and 60's, just 40 years it was not uncommon for a Down's Syndrome child to die before they had reached 30 years of age.
Down's Syndrome children also frequently receive play therapy, speech therapy, and other social services before they start elementary school. While in school, they are usually enrolled in Special Education services. All these things--the medical needs and the educational/social services--are a major juggling act in the best of circumstances, when one has been in one's community for several years and has the knowledge of which agencies to call, and the social support of friends and family to lend a hand with babysitting (whether of the child or its siblings), a little help around the house, or a cassarole for those days when you just can't seem to get anything done enough to even start making dinner, much less someone whom you can sit down with to have a cup of coffee and vent over how overwhelming it can all be.
As someone who was a single, 26 year-old mother when my child (now an adolescent) was born, I know how hard it can be to raise just one healthy child. I can't imagine trying to campaign for Vice President of the United States with a healthy 4-month-old child. And Sarah Palin is going to do this with a child who may have health issues, and will certainly start needing services in the next 18 months? It is with concern that I note that we have not been told how severe Trig's condition is--will he live an almost-normal life, or will he have severe medical and social issues throughout his life? Some will state this is none of my business, but if his mother is Vice President and running around the globe, will Trig's dad, the "First Dude", be the one juggling all the doctors and other services needed by a child with Down's?
From today's Wall Street Journal (page 4):
"It was liberals who found themselves questioning whether Gov. Palin can adequately care for her growing family while running for the vice presidency or, if it came to that, running the country. And it was conservatives who found themselves championing the feminist view that women can do it all--and denouncing skeptics as sexist.
Barbara Licthman, a retired social worker in Sarasota, Fla., said her liberal friends keep questioning whether it is appropriate or wise for the mother of a special-needs infant to take on such a demanding job. Ms. Licthman, 69, has similar concerns--and wonders why the family-values conservatives aren't chiming in.
"This is where I see the hypocrisy," Mr. Licthman said. "When you're campaigning for vice president, you're on 24/7. Who's watching the baby? And what kind of nurturing is going on int that 17-year-old's life if she's pregnant?" her vioce rose in frustration. "But you can't talk about it, because it's politically incorrect," she said.
Ina Roy-Faderman, 44, a hospital ethicist in San Francisco, says she, too, has been criticized for raising questions about Ms. Palin's choices. "That's the first thing people jump on," she said. "What's wrong with you? Aren't you a feminist?"" Ms. Roy-Faderman chose to work part-time when her son was born two years ago, and she says she would never question a mother's right to work. But it is a matter of balance, she said, "and when you have five children, one with special needs, the balance cannot be in favor of a high-stress, overtime job."
From the New York Times, " A New Twist In the Debate Over Mothers", page 1:
"When Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska was introduced as a vice-presidential pick, she was presented as a magnet for female voters, the epitome of everymom appeal.
But since then, as mothers across the coungry supervise the season's final water fights and pack book bags, some have voiced the kind of doubts that few male pundits have dared raise on television. With five children, including an infant with Down Syndrome and, as the country learned Monday, a pregnant 17-year-old, Ms. Palin has set off a fierce argument among women about whether there are enough hours in the day for her to take on the vice presidency, and whether she is right to try.
It's the Mommy Wars: Special Campaign Edition. But this time the battle lines are drawn inside out, with social conservatives, usually staunch advocates for stay-at-home motherhood, mostly defending her, while some others, including plenty of working mothers, worry that she is taking on too much.
"How is this really going to work?" said Karen Shopff Rooff, an independent voter, personal trainer, and mother of two in Austin, Tex. "I don't care whether she's the mother or the father; it's a lot to handle," she said, adding that Ms. Palin's lack of national experience would only make her road more difficult.
"When I first heard about Palin, I was impressed," said Pamela Moore, a mother of two from Birmingham, Ala. "But when I read that her special -needs child was three days old when she went back to work, I knew this is not someone who would put what is right for the people first."
...In interviews, many women, citing their own difficulties with less demanding jobs, said it would be impossible for Ms. Palin to succeed both at motherhood and in the nation's second-highest elected position at once.
"You can juggle a BlackBerry and a breast pump in a lot of jobs, but not in the vice presidency," said Christina Henry de Tessan, a mother of two in Portland, Ore., who supports Mr. Obama.
Her thoughts were echoed by some Republicans, including Anne Faircloth, daughter of former Senator Lauch Faircloth of North Carolina. Being a governor is one thing, Ms. Faircloth said, and Ms. Palin's husband, Todd, seems like a supportive spouse. "But running for the second-highest office in the land is a very different kettle of fish," she said.
Many women expressed incredulity--some of it polite, some of it angry--that Ms. Palin would pursue the vice presidency given her youngest son's age and medical condtion. Infants with Down syndrome often need special care in the first years of life: extra tests, physical therapy, even surgery.
Sarah Robertson, a mother of four from Kennebunkport, Me., who was one of the few evangelical Christians interviewed to criticize Ms. Palin, said: "A mother of a 4-month-old infant with Down syndrome taking up full-time campaigning? Not my value set."
Ms. Palin is "essentially outsourcing her duties as a mother for the sake of personal political ambition," said Ms. Robertson, gazing down at her own 6-month-old daughter, snuggled against her chest.
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While I can't state how well Sarah Palin is doing as the governor of Alaska (I'm hearing that her approval rating is around 80% positive), my thoughts are that her family currently has a lot going on, even in the best of times, and while Mrs. Palin may be a fantastic candidate for national office in ten or twelve years, she should have declined her current offer with a statement about her "family needs at this time being incompatible with the demands of the postion", and offering to assist Mr. McCain in any other fashion that would be of assistance.
Feel free to discuss (or throw brickbats!).
- Congenital cardiac defects occur in up to 50 percent of children with Down syndrome.
- Early diagnosis via echocardiogram is crucial within the first two months of life, even if no symptoms are present.
- The majority of heart defects in children with Down syndrome can be surgically corrected with resulting long-term health improvements.
- Experience and success are the key factors in selecting a hospital and surgical team for heart surgery on infants with Down syndrome.
- (courtesy of the National Down Syndrome Society)
