Natalie Portman Got Me Pregnant!

I know, you're as shocked as I was to learn that Natalie Portman got me pregnant. After all she's a wildly successful movie actress and, to be honest, probably doesn't even know me. Let's not kid ourselves, for sure she doesn't know me! OK- I'll tell you the truth. I'm not really pregnant and I've never even met Natalie Portman. But a couple of weeks ago Natalie got accused of setting a bad example by glamorizing pregnancy without the sanctifying act of marriage to accompany her delicate condition. This public scolding came from Mike Huckabee. If you don't follow the daily nonsense of early Presidential politics, I'll remind you that Mike Huckabee is the former Governor of Arkansas, a serious Presidential contender in 2008, and is positioning himself for another run in 2012. Interesting that Arkansas ranks 4th nationally in live births for women 15-19 years of age. Natalie must have very busy down in Arkansas.

I guess it's OK for anybody to hold an opinion about the lifestyles of public figures like Ms. Portman.  But I became troubled by the fact it was Mike Huckabee making this point in a nationally televised interview. Of course when he caught a little flack over his statements, he did what all politicians do; he denied he meant to criticize Miss ( not Mrs.) Portman, then suggested the rest of us just "misinterpreted" what he said. I swear, we're all going to have get better about not "misinterpreting" politicians when they get caught saying things they wish they hadn't said. Next year is an election year, so lets all brush up on those skills.

So why is it troubling that these kinds of statements come from Mike Huckabee? There are a couple of items that really stood out for me. The first isn't so much troubling as it is amusing. Conservatives, like Mr. Huckabee, didn't say a word when their Vice Presidential candidate had a teenage unwed mother in the family. In fact, young Bristol Palin was lauded as a shining example because she chose "to have the child". No abortion talk around here. Yea! for Bristol. But when a "Hollywood" type (who is, by the way, an Ivy League college graduate, millionaire, older person- not a high school kid who hooked up with a loser like Levi Johnston.) makes this choice- she's a bad example. Maybe Bristol should have been more like Natalie, come to think of it. I don't mind the debate if it helps advance the culture, but we have to be consistent and avoid the the obvious call of hypocrisy.

The second point is actually troubling. There are conservative men and women who are vying to not to lead their political party, but to lead our nation and  be world leaders. At the same time Mr. Huckabee is blaming a movie star for a very real social problem, his party is attempting to cut all funds for low-income reproductive health care provided by Planned Parenthood. The Republicans in the House voted out ALL funding for Planned Parenthood. I am not talking about abortion services! The Hyde Amendment prohibits federal funding of abortion except in very limited circumstances. I'm talking about the other 97% of services for women that addresses the problem Mr. Huckabee and many conservatives decry. If you want to help solve the problem of unwanted pregnancy or teen pregnancy it makes no sense cutting the very lifeline to the services that help prevent it. And, those services aren't even just about birth control- they are about cervical and breast cancer screening, SDT screening and treatment, general health care and information to help keep women healthy. These are women who would not otherwise have access to any health care provider. Planned Parenthood serves more than 2.5 million clients each year.

If it all boils down to "bad examples" being the cause of teen pregnancies and the struggles of single mothers, then we need smarter people trying to lead us. We need people who understand the complexities of a diverse society and don't propose to eliminate services, for political reasons, that serve the poor. We need people that don't make judgments based on limited personal moral positions- but see there is room in this country to care for those who need our compassion- not our judgments. The selection of our leaders deserves some different thoughts.