Sarah Palin, Creationism, and Sex Education

I know I've been pilin' on Palin, and I'd like to promise that this will be my last Sarah Palin post, but with so many cookies coming out of the oven I just can't do that.

Given the fact that "Mother of Five" features so prominently on Sarah Palin's executive resume, many were stunned today when Palin proudly announced that her unmarried daughter is teen pregnant:

"Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We are proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby, and even prouder to become grandparents."

Even as some of us recoil at the fact that left-wing blogs such as the Drudge Report are giving so much play to a private family matter that Palin gleefully injected into the news cycle on the first day of the Republican National Convention, others of us are focusing on the substantive policy implications of Palin's announcement. Specifically, as Governor of Alaska, what was Palin's stance on teaching safe sex alongside abstinence-only education in public schools?

"Teach both. You know, don't be afraid of information.... Healthy debate is so important and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both. And you know, I say this too as the daughter of a science teacher. Growing up with being so privileged and blessed to be given a lot of information on, on both sides of the subject.... It's been a healthy foundation for me. But don't be afraid of information and let kids debate both sides."

Whoops, I'm sorry. That was Palin's stance on teaching creationism alongside evolution. My mistake. But surely, if Palin's scientifically rigid upbringing and commitment to healthy debate and maximum information compels her to support the inclusion of a controversial subject such as creationism in the public curriculum, she must have come to the same conclusion regarding safe-sex, right? Fortunately she was faced with this very question when running for governor in 2006:

Will you support funding for abstinence-until-marriage education instead of for explicit sex-education programs, school-based clinics, and the distribution of contraceptives in schools?

Palin: Yes, the explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support.

Well, hey. You can't argue with results.