By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
EVANSVILLE, IN, April 17, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Governor Sarah Palin spoke yesterday at a pro-life banquet sponsored by the Vanderburgh County Right to Life, where she criticized President Barack Obama for his rampant pro-abortion policies, and give witness to her own pro-life choices. The banquet was attended by over 2,000 pro-lifers, with nearly a thousand more watching on a large screen in an adjacent auditorium.
AP reports that Gov. Palin was cheered wildly as she entered the banquet hall with her husband, Todd, and that she received two standing ovations during her speech.
Palin condemned President Obama’s support of abortion rights and embryonic stem-cell research, and quipped that deciding when babies get human rights isn’t above her pay grade – a reference to Obama’s infamous response to a question from Rev. Rick Warren at a forum during last year’s election campaign, where Obama said that the question of when life begins is “above my pay grade.”
Palin challenged the view that children that are less than “perfect” should be aborted and that unplanned pregnancies that are “inconvenient” can be ended by abortion.
Recalling the test of her faith and pro-life beliefs that occurred when she discovered that her son Trig, now 1 year old, had Down syndrome, Palin said she often turned to prayer and realized it was an opportunity to live out the belief she professed.
“I had just enough faith to know that trying to change the circumstances wasn’t any answer,” she said.
“The moment he was born, I knew that moment my prayers had been answered,” Palin said. “Trig is a miracle. He is the best thing that ever happened to me and I want other women to have that opportunity.”
“I know for sure my son is perfect just as he is, made in the image of God,” she said. “A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on.”
Palin also spoke on the promotion of adoption over abortion, so as to give women who can’t give birth the opportunity to adopt children who might otherwise be aborted. She also mentioned her daughter Bristol, who became pregnant as an unmarried teen and has since given birth to a son.
“Life is ordained, life is precious,” Palin said, and asked the crowd to keep working for the “culture of life” in America.
Executive Director of Vanderburgh County Right to Life, Mary Ellen Van Dyke, told LifeSiteNews.com that the Right to Life Banquet, which started with approximately 100 people attending in the late 1980’s, has grown to become the largest pro-life banquet in the world, with attendance of over 2,000 and is known nationwide for being a pacesetting event in the pro-life community.
Commenting on Governor Palin’s visit to attend the banquet, Mary Ellen said “Sarah Palin is an exemplary role model for all with her dedication to her faith, her family, and her country. She is an outstanding pro-life leader.”