A Young Woman's Choice

[This Marlin Oil advertorial appears in the March 31 edition of The City Sentinel.]

A young woman spoke at Oak Tree Golf and Country Club the other night. She bravely stood up in front a large crowd of (mostly) strangers and told the story of the emotionally turbulent hours after she learned she was, at the age of 17, pregnant out of wedlock.

A girl then, she's a woman now. She described feelings of heartache she had before talking to her parents, knowing they would be disappointed she had had sexual relations with, as she put it, a boy she thought would eventually be her husband. She elicited nervous chuckles as she remembered, "I thought my Dad would skin the father of my baby alive."

With the help of a trusted girlfriend, one night Bristol Palin told her parents what had happened. She says they were upset and disappointed, but that was not the end. The conversation with the governor of Alaska and her husband lasted all night, hours filled with tears, laughter, hugs and "lots of prayer."

In the end, the family did what many families do. They accepted the new addition to the clan with love and determination to face the future together.

Today, mom Bristol says the little guy is a "typical little boy" who likes to get down in the dirt to play and is an endless bundle of energy. Bristol is a woman now, determined to learn from her experience, and share her story with others. She is encouraging young women, and men, to abstain from sexual relations until marriage.

Bristol came to Oklahoma City to speak at the annual "life of the party" event raising money for Birth Choice of Oklahoma.

For 40 years, Barbara Chisko has run the group. Today, from a handful of clinics scattered around the area and a main office in south Oklahoma City, Birth Choice every year helps thousands of young women like Bristol, as well as older women facing unexpected pregnancies.

Birth Choice limits abortion with love and layettes, not political activism and powerful rhetoric. The group's practical steps to honor those who choose life might serve as a model for everyone dealing with the people, not policies that still divide Americans.

It is not clear what the future will bring in terms of abortion policy. It remains a troubling topic for judges, elected officials, and most profoundly those women who bear the living result of too-early intimacy.

Regardless of debate, the future will likely include continued presence of Birth Choice in our state. An appreciative tip of the hat is hereby given to the group's volunteers, donors, and staff for bringing an honest and clarifying new pro-life voice to Oklahoma.

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