One of the items that Steve Schmidt finds to be afoul of his
brand-spanking new standards of decency is a question that a reporter
allegedly asked him (umm, off the record) about whether Sarah Palin had
her amniotic fluid tested.

This question got lumped in with all
of the other manufactured outrage about supposed attacks on Bristol,
but I think it is entirely different and legitimate.  This question is
the first thing that came to mind for me when as part of her official
bio, the fact came to light that she chose to have her last baby even
after discovering that he would be afflicted with Down's Syndrome. 

You
see, when my wife and I were meeting with the OBGYN who would
eventually deliver our daughter, we discovered through a blood test
(AFP) that we had an elevated risk of our child having Down's.  We
asked the next sensible question, which was - can we find out for
sure?  We were told, accurately as I understand, that the only way to
confirm Down's syndrome was by amniosintesis, a process by which a
needle is inserted into the uterus and a sample of the fluid is
extracted, then tested.  Our doctor then told us, VERY CLEARLY, that
while it was our decision, the procedure carried risks for the baby. 
The bottom line was that unless we were entertaining the possibility of
aborting the pregnancy, this procedure was an unnecessary risk.

My questions to Sarah Palin on this subject are as follows: 

1. 
Why did you elect to take the risk of an amniosintesis if your
religious convictions completely preclude you from entertaining the
possibility of an abortion? 

2.  How do you reconcile the fact
that you claim to have "chosen" to carry the baby to term inspite of
Down's with the fact that you do not believe that "choice" exists at
all?

3.  You made this choice for yourself, do you not believe that others should be able to choose as well?

Also,
I should add, in our case we elected not to take the risk of an
amniosintesis, and my daughter (now three) is not afflicted with
Down's, a fact that I am very thankful for. 

I'll also add,
for the purposes of disclosure, that I am male, christian but not
over-the-top, and I am staunchly pro-life and staunchly pro-choice. 
What I mean is that in any case where my opinion is asked, I will
always advise against abortion but I also recognize that in the vast
majority of cases, MY OPINION IS NOT ASKED, and I should leave those
people alone to make the most difficult decision of their lives in
peace.