Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin told a crowd of pro-life advocates gathered at the Majestic Theatre last night that the largest advance in the abortion industry has been the passage of Obamacare and called Barack Obama "the most pro-abortion president to ever occupy the White House."
Palin, introduced by Mayor Tom Leppert as someone who's "literally walked the talk" regarding her pro-life stance, also said the Obama administration broke its promise by adding federal funding for abortions into the controversial legislation at the last minute and predicted that the new Congress will "repeal and replace" Obamacare.
"We have to fight back against this federal takeover, this federal power grab," she said to an estimated 800 folks.
Palin headlined the two-hour event hosted by Heroic Media, a faith-based group that utilizes advertising to assist women facing unplanned pregnancies. The nonprofit organization has plans to launch a $632,000 spring media campaign in the Dallas market, which includes $505,000 for 10 weeks of television ads.
The former Alaska governor spoke mostly about her son Trig and daughter Bristol during her 40-minute speech, revealing that dealing with Trig's diagnosis of Down syndrome and Bristol's "premature ending of her adolescence" when she became pregnant as a teenager showed her how women could "lose hope." However, Palin, who described herself as "unapologetically pro-life," said the two experiences only reaffirmed and strengthened her belief.
Several references were made to Bristol's appearance on Dancing With the Stars, with Palin joking that Bristol told her that she'd be a perfect fit for the show because she's not a star and can't dance. Palin added that her other daughter Piper offered assistance to Bristol as to how she could learn the dance steps, telling her, "Do what Mom does. Just write it on your hand."
Palin appeased the audience with several family anecdotes, including Bristol's time spent playing youth football and wrestling, along with choosing shop class instead of home economics. She shared a particularly moving story about Trig's routine of waking up in the morning each day by clearing the sleep out of his eyes, standing tall and then literally applauding. After another story about Piper, she admitted it was one she's told too many times.
"See, I need to run for office just so I have more material for my next speech," she said as the crowd roared.
Texas has been a leader in protecting life, Palin said, and both Governor Rick Perry and Attorney General Greg Abbott have worked hard to repeal Obamacare. Palin and Perry traded jokes about the size of each other's states, with Palin calling Texas Alaska's "little sister state" and Perry later saying, "There wouldn't be so much of Alaska if they'd just thaw it out."
Perry, who signed copies of Fed Up! for $23 in the lobby afterward (pre-signed copies of Palin's Going Rogue were selling for $30 before the event began), described his book as promoting freedom and states' rights. He said abortion is a serious issue that's about "standing up for the weakest, most innocent among us" and noted that abortions in Austin dropped 24 percent since Heroic Media arrived six years ago.
Pastor Stephen Broden, who lost decisively on November 2 in his bid to unseat Democratic U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, said the foundation of the Republic is "based on ability to procreate and replace ourselves." He cited statistics from demographers that say there must be a rate of 2.1 children per woman to avoid a decline in population, but the country is now at 1.8, which will take 100 years to return to 2.1. Broden claimed that the number for the black population has dropped to 0.9 children per woman.
"When Thomas Jefferson wrote 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,' he didn't do that accidentally or incidentally," he said. "He did that knowing that life precedes happiness. You've got to have life, and then the pursuit means that there is an ambition that happens as a result of the liberties and freedoms that we have. So that message doesn't change. It needs to ring and resound within the halls of Congress to this very day."
Palin, who said she wants Broden to run again for political office and "succeed in another race," warned that the White House will get desperate and attempt to "cram some things through" regarding abortion and urged pro-life supporters to "ramp-up" their efforts to support legislation that encourages adoption.
"Thanks for clinging to your God and your guns and your constitution," she said after wrapping up.