It’s been over a year since the election of 2008 and yet Sarah Palin cannot show up in the news without a barrage of vicious attacks from the media. Although she is no longer a candidate for vice president, the vitriol continues to spew over the release of her book, “Going Rogue: An American Life.” Many think the anti-Sarah sentiment stems from her solid pro-life position but there are reasons reasons that go way beyond her feelings about abortion.

As you look back in history to the late 1960s and 1970s, you see a wave of feminist ideals being sold to women, including the notion that they needed to delay motherhood to get ahead in their careers. Many women bought into this belief that giving birth and career advancement didn’t mix. So what happened?

Many women chose the birth control route, delaying marriage and childbirth well into their thirties and even forties.  Their biological clocks ticked away and they sacrificed the most fertile time in their lives for career advancement and what they thought would be true happiness.

Some, when faced with an unplanned pregnancy they believed would interfere with their careers, chose the abortion route.  They sacrificed the life of their unborn child for their own personal career advancement.  Now enter Sarah Palin, a woman with a husband, children and a high-profile career. Yes, this hockey Mom went from school board, to mayor, to governor to a vice presidential candidate! And her own unplanned pregnancy ended not in the hands of an abortionist, but in the loving embrace of the Palin family.

Now when the women who sacrificed motherhood either by abortion or birth control look at Sarah, they can’t stand her, even if they can’t explain why. Because she was able to have a family and a career, they see her as having the best of both worlds. They see, in this confident, self-possessed, accomplished woman, surrounded by a loving family, everything they gave up.

In a nation that has lost more than 50 million children to abortion, we have millions of women who have these repressed feelings.  Many have suffered silently from these negative consequences since their abortion.  Janet Morana knows first-hand about this trauma and she invites anyone still dealing with the pain, shame and regret of abortion to visit http://www.SilentNoMoreAwareness.org.

The next time you hear Sarah being attacked so viciously, consider that it might be because we are a nation that has been wounded by abortion. Have you ever wondered why a woman or a man would stand up in front of a large crowd, on a cold winters’ night, rehash a violent memory of an abortion, brave the disgusting stares and jeers of many, and agree not to accept a dime for what has to be the defining moment of their life?

Sarah Palin knows what’s involved. Even though she’s never had an abortion, she’s hated because she understands what hundreds of women go through every day.

Kevin Roeten and Janet Morana

Janet Morana is the Executive Director, Priests for Life, and Kevin Roeten is the co-chairman of the Respect Life Commitee at St. Barnabas Catholic Church [Arden, NC].