Based on what we now know, neither claim in the Palin pregnancy hubbub merits much discussion. The first is the allegation that she is the grandmother and not the mother of the fifth child. The second is the charge that by flying roundtrip to Texas in April - - during the eighth month of pregnancy - - she endangered the health of her foetus, as well as risking danger to herself and inconvenience to her fellow-passengers. She took her return trip AFTER she had started to leak amniotic fluid. The baby was then delivered prematurely after the 8 hour plus trip by plane and a further fifty minute car ride to her doctor's clinic.
Buzz flash has just called attention to both. http://www.buzzflash.com/...
But the issue is far more complicated and not worth mindless speculation.
Further Update.
My diary argued against the daughter's pregnancy story, but it suggested that whether or not she acted responsibly in boarding the plane was an open question.
The larger significance of that issues goes to judgment and risk-avoidance. If she was careless with the potential life of her own foetus, would she be equally careless with the lives of her fellow-citizens.
UPDATE:
There seems to be a basic misunderstanding. I oppose all this speculation. In that respect I agree with those who want it to stop. I am saying that it has no basis in the available evidence.
BUT there are serious medical issues here that should be treated in the way that any such issues get addressed in a political campaign, by releasing medical records. The question has been raised, did she act irresponsibly by boarding the plane? The medical answer seems to be not necessarily. By being in contact with her doctor she was taking appropriate precautions. But questions still remain and they should be directly answered.
But the issue is far more complicated and not worth mindless speculation. That is what I wish to stop by suggesting that the medical evidence should be released so that the matter can be put to rest, as I believe it will be, and instead more important issues can be addressed.
First, the claim that she has bearded the child for her daughter rests largely on three elements, none of which are convincing: 1) the subjective asssessment of her appearance in photographs, 2) the tardiness of the announcement that she was pregnant, and 3) - - the least substantive of all - - the rumor that her eldest daughter was out of school with an unusually long bout of mono. The last element is mere rumor. No reputable source has stated it. The first two can be interpreted any number of ways.
Second, the claim that she endangered health and well-being is also problematic. I just got off the phone after a long talk with a friend who is a practicing ob-gyn. Based on the incomplete information on the record, the medical advice against travelling is NOT clear-cut. She was in her eighth month, but that detail is too vague to be useful. Medical professionals make their recommendation on the basis of weeks not months. The important marker is 36 weeks as opposed to 32 weeks. How close was she to 36 weeks? We do not know. At 36 weeks this ob-gyn recommends that you travel no more than 40 minutes from your home. At 32 weeks, perhaps the 8 months specified, she would be more flexible.
Furthermore once the amniotic sac started leaking, she should clearly get to emergency care as soon as possible, but if, as she claimed, she was monitoring the situation with her physician, then she was not acting with wild recklessness.
Anchorage Daily News from 22 April offers the following details.
http://www.adn.com/...
Palin kept in close contact with Baldwin-Johnson. The contractions slowed to one or two an hour, "which is not active labor," the doctor said.
"Things were already settling down when she talked to me," Baldwin-Johnson said. Palin did not ask for a medical OK to fly, the doctor said.
"I don't think it was unreasonable for her to continue to travel back," Baldwin-Johnson said.
So the Palins flew on Alaska Airlines from Dallas to Anchorage, stopping in Seattle and checking with the doctor along the way.
"I am not a glutton for pain and punishment. I would have never wanted to travel had I been fully engaged in labor," Palin said. After four kids, the governor said, she knew what labor felt like, and she wasn't in labor.
Still, a Sacramento, Calif., obstetrician who is active in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said when a pregnant woman's water breaks, she should go right to the hospital because of the risk of infection. That's true even if the amniotic fluid simply leaks out, said Dr. Laurie Gregg.
"To us, leaking and broken, we are talking the same thing. We are talking doctor-speak," Gregg said.
Some airlines have policies against pregnant women onboard during the last four weeks of pregnancy, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists advises against flying after 36 weeks.
This was going to be Palin's last flight anyway, her doctor said.
Alaska Airlines has no such rule and leaves the decision to the woman and her doctor, said spokeswoman Caroline Boren....
"The stage of her pregnancy was not apparent by observation. She did not show any signs of distress," Boren said.
Palin never got big with this pregnancy. She said she didn't try to hide it but didn't feel a need to alert the airline, either.
They landed in Anchorage around 10:30 p.m. Thursday and an hour later were at the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center in Wasilla.
Baldwin-Johnson said she had to induce labor, and the baby didn't come until 6:30 a.m. Friday....
Palin said she wanted him born in Alaska but wouldn't have risked anyone's health to make that happen.
"You can't have a fish picker from Texas," said Todd.
Given all the rumors and speculation - - as well as the surprising facts - - the very least Palin must do is make her complete medical records available as soon as possible and allow her physician, Dr Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, to respond freely and completely to all press requests.
This must not be the limited medical hang-out that McCain got away with a few months ago.