Just days after Sarah Palin was introduced to the public as John McCain’s vice presidential running mate, Sarah and Todd Palin released a statement that their 17-year-old, unmarried daughter Bristol was 5 months pregnant. The statement was aimed at shutting down rumors spreading over the internet that the Palin baby, Trig, born in April, was not Sarah’s but Bristol’s.

The announcement went on to say that Bristol would be marrying her boyfriend Levi who is the baby’s father. Palin has said in speeches and press interviews that she is personally against abortion even in cases of rape and incest, so it came as no surprise that daughter Bristol, 17, second oldest of the Palin’s five children, would carry her baby to term.

Coping with Crisis

Palin learned that Levi was the father of Bristol’s baby from close friends who heard about it from someone working on their house, says the NY Times. Levi, 18, Bristol’s highschool boyfriend and dad-to-be, enjoys ice hockey, camping, dirt bikes, and fishing. He has been called a “superhunky, bad-boy, ice-hockey player” by the NY Daily News and various gossip magazines, and he has described himself via his MySpace page as a “f…g redneck” who doesn’t want babies. The page disappeared shortly after the Palin statement was released. Levi has been dating Bristol for about a year. He sat with Bristol, alongside the rest of the Palin family, at the Republican nominating convention in St. Paul when Governor Palin was announced as the candidate for Vice President.

Bristol Palin played junior varsity basketball at Wasilla High School as a junior. Midyear, she transferred to Anchorage High School, leaving boyfriend Levi behind. Sherry Johnston, Levi’s mother, said she was worried about her son coping with all the attention. She said it was difficult enough for teenagers to deal with any pregnancy, having the entire nation watching made it worse. Levi Johnston, a high school hockey player for Wasilla High School, is not listed on the team roster for 2008-2009, and his mother wouldn’t say if he graduated. She said simply he’s no longer a student and any further information would have to come from him. Bristol would be a senior this fall, although with her pregnancy and impending marriage, plans are on hold. Her baby is due in late December.

The Palin family issued this statement about Bristol’s pregnancy shortly after the Republican convention:

“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’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.

Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levi’s privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates.”

How the World Turns

Reactions to news of Bristol Palin’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy by leaders of the Republican party have been overwhelmingly supportive. “Show me a family that hasn’t had some problems. Bottom line is, everybody has issues in their families,” commented Conservative Senator Jon Kyl from Arizona. McCain rival Mitt Romney remarked, “kids don’t always do everything we’d like them to do,” and McCain spokesperson, Steve Schmidt, commented, “life happens.”

Other leaders echoed these sentiments, according to the AP, which reminded us that in 1992, Republican VP candidate Dan Quayle lambasted the TV series Murphy Brown for depicting an unwed pregnant woman on Prime Time TV, saying it set a bad example for America. It seems that our cultural values have evolved over the past 16 years. Today we are less judgmental about single mothers having babies, even underage ones.

Meanwhile, Bristol’s pregnancy continues to be a top media story. Virtually all the major news and gossip magazines have given it billing second only to news of Hurricane Ike hitting Galveston and Houston, TX. The Palin pregnancy has injected a new level of drama into our national political debate. Who needs reality TV when we’ve got the 2008 presidential campaign to chew on? Of course, we don’t know how it’s all going to play out (the campaign, not the pregnancy), but it’s got everybody talking. People are wondering whether candidate Palin has too much on her hands, right now, and not enough experience with what it takes to be leader of the free world. But Palin seems to take it all in stride.

Asked about her family’s current crises at the Republican convention, the Governor replied, “From the inside, no family ever seems typical.  And that’s how it is with us. Our family has the same ups and downs as any other.”

If you or someone you know has questions about or is affected by teen pregnancy, visit the Teen Pregnancy Advisor for further information.