Here is what we might call a classic gaffe --using the Kinsleyan definition of a remark accidentally revealing what the speaker actually thinks. A Canadian doctor gives the game away in the LA Times, where he reveals his terror that if word gets out about Sarah Palin, some Canadian women might not abort their children with Down Syndrome (Canadian women abort 95% of their DS kids). He's concerned
that greater public awareness of women making choices like Palin to complete a pregnancy and give birth to their genetically-abnormal baby could be detrimental and confusing to the women and their families.So once again we see that some choices are more equal than others. (Even on his terms, what must he think about Canadian women if he thinks the mere hearing of someone else's story will cause them not to think through their own situations? Mysogynist, eh?)
Lest you dismiss this as some rambling Socialist nut (or Canadian, as it's now PC to style them), just yesterday someone sent me an email from a friend of hers --an evangelical Christian and an adoptive mom of two Down Syndrome kids-- who is bitterly angry against Sarah Palin for "selfishly" having a child after the age of 40, when the odds of DS increase. Can't wait for that nationalized health care!
