Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol, who became a single mother at 18, came to the Brazos Valley on Saturday with a message for other young girls: Abstinence is the only sure-fire way to avoid pregnancy.
"I just want girls to know abstinence is a reasonable alternative and that all life has value," Bristol Palin said toward the end of her 10-minute speech at a charity fundraiser benefiting the nonprofit Central Texas Orphan Mission Alliance, which takes an anti-abortion stance.
"Abstinence," Palin added, "is not about morality, it's about reality, because it's the only thing that works every time."
The fundraiser supper benefiting the group drew about 200 people, including Bryan Mayor Jason Bienski, to the Brazos Center on the 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.
Bienski introduced Palin to the audience and said she'd accomplished more in 20 years than most people can hope to accomplish in a lifetime.
Those in attendance had an opportunity to meet and take photographs with the daughter of the former Alaska governor before sitting down to dinner.
After the meal, Palin, a former contestant on the Dancing with the Stars television show, addressed the audience and told her story of being "17, a high school junior, unwed, under employed and pregnant," during the summer of 2008 as her mother was campaigning for the vice presidency.
"I didn't set out to be an author, a speaker, or a dancer," she said as the crowd laughed. "But I do have a story to tell."
She told the audience in detail what it was like to sit in the living room with her baby's father, Levi, her own parents and her best friend as she told them she was pregnant, adding it was the hardest thing she'd ever done.
"I'd rather give birth five more times than go through that again," she said.
The difficulties of being an unwed teen mother, she said, were compounded by the media's depiction of her family as one from "outer space."
Karen Hall, president of CTOMA, said she and the board decided last May to book Palin for the fundraising event that Hall described as the largest yet for the organization.
Beyond helping orphaned and neglected children in third-world countries, CTOMA on a local level will soon operate a free health-screening clinic out of its new headquarters on 29th Street in Bryan. The organization also will provide ultrasounds and health education information free of charge when construction and renovations on the new building are complete.
CTOMA also operates a program to get food to needy elderly in Bryan-College Station.
Hall said Palin was chosen as the speaker so she could tell her story and encourage others who may encounter an unplanned pregnancy.
Tripp, her 2-year-old son, whom she described as a "momma's boy," wasn't in attendance Saturday, but Palin said the pair typically do everything together.
The crowd responded with loud applause as Bristol left the stage.
After the speech, Hall took the stage and showcased the work the nonprofit organization has performed since 2004 -- helping children in Haiti, Mexico, Uganda, Pakistan and several other countries.
Hall has personally adopted a dozen children from overseas and said she hoped Palin's message about the value of human life wouldn't be soon forgotten.
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