Palin speaks to anti-abortion Indiana crowd

EVANSVILLE – The Evansville Auditorium and Convention Centre was packed Thursday night as anti-abortion supporters gathered to listen to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Michael Steele, Republican National Committee chairman.

The Vanderburgh County Right to Life’s annual fundraising banquet filled the auditorium to capacity for Palin, a former Republican vice presidential candidate. Republican politicians and right to life groups mingled and ate a pork dinner.

But there were plenty of Democrats in the building who said they felt very differently about Palin.

“She’s just another person to me,” said Shawn Pullom, a prep cook at the center. She said she believes this rally was politically inspired.

“I think she’s trying to get on the map so she can run for president,” Pullom said.
Others said they saw contradictions in Palin’s purported values.

“She speaks about family values – she ought to let her grandbaby see his daddy,” said Tracy Barnes, also a prep cook at the center, referring to the recent controversy regarding the father of Palin’s grandson.

Most guests, however, were anti-abortion and pro-Palin. State Rep. Jackie Walorski, IN-21, said she is a vehement Palin supporter.

“She’s probably more qualified than half the other people who run for office,” Walorski said.

Walorski was a member of Indiana’s Sarah Palin Defense Team during the 2008 election.

The defense team was formed to defend Palin against what they believed were unfair allegations, double standards and gender bias shortly after she was nominated for vice president, Walorski said.

Though the center was filled with Palin supporters, there were plenty of opinions outside of the center as well.

“I think politicians are doing a great job of taking care of themselves,” said Nooney Barns, an Evansville resident. “None of them have to live these issues.”

Heather Autumns, an Ivy Tech nursing student, expanded on Barns’ opinion.

“If a 14-year-old girl is molested by her father and gets pregnant, she shouldn’t be forced to have an inbred child of rape,” Autumns said. “We need to focus on preventing pregnancy to begin with.”

Carole Davis, an Evansville child advocate, said she wants more attention paid to children who have already been born and wanted to draw attention to the plight of living children in Indiana.

“If only this many people lobbied to help children who have already been born,” Davis said.

She handed out copies of a letter from the Indiana State Child Fatality Review Team that stated, among other things, Indiana leads the country in child abuse fatalities. Indiana also leads the nation in preventable deaths in children less than one year of age, according to the letter.

Barns said she agrees all life is precious and should be protected.

“I’m pro-life, but if my family member was pregnant, I would do my best to talk them out of an abortion, and I would, in a sense, marry them and take care of the child,” Barns said. “I don’t think that anybody has the right to take someone’s life.”

Palin shared anecdotes about her daughter’s teenage pregnancy during the election and her personal troubles about her pregnancy with her son, Trig, who has Down syndrome. She made a personal and emotional plea to choose life.

“For a fleeting moment, I saw how people could just want it all to go away,” Palin said. “I do understand what these women and girls go through.”