I avoided touching this - which some may have done just to boost their traffic - because I felt, were it true, it’s perfectly okay for a family - any family - to raise children and grandchildren in ways that conceal who the biological mother is. Even a politician gets that grant from me, no matter what her positions are on reproductive rights. Sarah Palin’s children don’t deserve to be speculated about publicly because it begins with the supposition that they, too, are not being honest. Short of a criminal charge, I simply won’t go there, because the kids don’t deserve the outfall from that. Ever since Rush Limbaugh called 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton a dog because of her appearance, I’ve been extra-sensitive to what political kids have to endure. (As an aside, what’s a middle-aged man doing judging the attractiveness of ANY 13 year old, unless there’s a pedophile’s interest? But I digress…)

I now choose to mention Sarah Palin’s recent pregnancy because it looks like it’s becoming clearer that the speculation will be winding down. But there’s some other matters worth thinking about.

Sarah Palin is opposed to abortion. She favors the use of contraception. Because these views are rooted in religious conviction, presumably she’s also opposed to premarital sex. It would then be a simple deduction that she must support the use of contraception for married people.

For all I know, she may also support contraception for others, but since she’s not Catholic, it’s a perfectly reasonable assumption that she’s NOT opposed to the use of contraception by married people.

That being so, the chief reason a married couple would use contraception is implied by the word: to prevent conception. Not only do I agree that married people should have the option to use contraception, but if they choose to use it or not use it, that’s an integral part of the concept I support: individual choice. Thus, if Palin decides she or her husband should use contraception or should not use contraception, that is her right. Legally and (I believe) ethically, if Sarah Palin decides to prevent pregnancy through the use of contraception, it’s her choice to make.

In April, Sarah delivered a baby boy who was born with Down’s Syndrome. Even before she was tested and discovered her fetus had the extra chromosome that causes it, she knew what her decision would be. Opposed to abortion, she’d choose to continue her pregnancy. Again, good for her: that is and should be her choice to make.

I used to work with people with Down’s syndrome, helping train them and assisting them. Most have limited learning abilities, a lower IQ, and many are extra-affectionate and loving people. I learned much as an aide and for folks not familiar, there’s other things that often accompany that syndrome.

Folks with that extra chromosome usually have delayed finger dexterity. Common facial characteristics are sufficiently different that people notice them and some may tease them or slander them as a result. There’s a high incidence of congenital heart disease in this demographic. Hearing defects are also common. Most remain short. Thyroid conditions are much higher. Not as prevalent, but still considerably higher than the majority population encounters, many face epilepsy, leukemia and some degree of immune deficiencies.

On the plus side, people with the syndrome - for reasons unclear - face lower risks of artery plaque congestion and most cancers. Most, however, don’t live into their sixties. Their average lifespan is closer to the age of 50. And a form of increasing dementia often occurs before they reach that departure date. It may be a form of Alzheimer’s.

I worked with male adolescents and young adults with the syndrome. Some do not have a very high quality of life because of these additional maladies. Epileptic seizures, for example, can be intense, cause them physical injuries and the medicines used to control them can cause harm, especially from prolonged use. Then there’s frustrations they feel from learning things slowly, and the humiliation that comes from cruel and insensitive people.

For most, life will be harder and shorter. For many, the added medical woes mean real pain.

Sarah Palin chose to carry her fetus to term. Were I married with a partner making that choice, I’d support that choice and make the necessary life adjustments to love and raise the child. Again, that’s Sarah Palin’s choice and I support her right to make that choice.

What causes that extra chromosome? That’s not clear. In the general population, out of 800 live births, one will be born with Down’s syndrome. One factor that has been noticed is associated with maternal age. If Mom is 20-24, 1 out of 1562 deliver a Down’s syndrome child. Moms between 35-39 have an increased probability of 1 out of 214 live births. And for Moms at 45 or older, the probability increases to 1 out of 21 deliveries.

Why that is remains uncertain. All that’s certain is what the increased probabilities are.

It’s quite likely then that Sarah Palin, who supports the use of contraceptives, made the choice not to use them, at the age of 43 years and 5 months. Though she, like most people, likely didn’t know the precise probability numbers, it’s pretty common knowledge that women in their forties provide far more babies with the syndrome. From conversations I’ve had through the years, many women in their forties use contraceptives precisely to eliminate the possibility of having children with birth defects and health problems. Some choose to have their tubes tied to reduce that risk to zero.

I’m sure many of them would be fine mothers had they delivered a baby with Down’s syndrome. Most who took such preventative measures would hold no bias against such a child. But conscious of the problems such children face and the added responsibilities a family must take on, they simply decided they didn’t want to add that complication to a child or to their families.

As I’ve said, I respect choices women must make and that seems a reasonable choice to make, too.

Now obviously, I cannot know the circumstances of the conception of Sarah Palin’s son. I fully support her right to privacy about that, too.

But it’s entirely possible that Sarah chose to have unprotected sex and figured if there was an increased risk of birth defects, she’d take that risk anyway. Even though it meant the risk was not to her alone, but there was an increased possibility a child would be born whose life would face impairments, discomforts, limitations, pains and other anatomical and physiological negatives.

Did she consider that? Did she take on that added risk to her and her child-to-be consciously? Or did she not know such increased risks exist?

Frankly, I don’t know. And I still support her right to make her choice. Maybe it was a gambler’s choice. Maybe it was a choice of convenience made because of a moment driven more by passion than logic. Maybe it was an uninformed choice made unaware of the higher probabilities. I still support her right to choose.

But I also support the rights of voters to contemplate the possibilities. And to wonder why a woman of 43-and-a-half would make such a choice. And to wonder if that indicates anything about her decision-making.

If Sarah Palin makes a choice that risks some disabilities will happen to someone who has yet to exist, what other risks is she going to take with the lives of others who do exist?

I think it’s a perfectly reasonable thing to wonder about. I also support voters including it as one of the things to consider when determining who their country’s leading representatives will be. Did Sarah Palin make an informed choice at the outset? Did she make a responsible and considerate choice? Is it a choice the voter would make in a similar situation?

That’s a fair consideration. Sarah Palin has the right to choose and the right to her own beliefs and decisionmaking processes.

And so do we.

Update: Nate of Five Thirty Eight compares a number of Palin’s choices about issues with the choices most Americans have made and discovers several are well outside of what the majority of Americans would make.

The UF’s Times Online also dismisses the rumors about Palin’s child not being hers, but points out some other discrepancies in her positions on issues worth considering.