The Cheney Pregnancy: How Do You Spell Heartburn?

Dec. 7, 2006 — -- It was news that was guaranteed to raise eyebrows across America: Mary Cheney, the vice president's openly gay daughter, revealed yesterday that she is pregnant and she will be raising the child with her partner, Heather Poe.

"I laughed," said influential liberal blogger Jon Aravosis of americablog.com. "I knew it was going to cause so much heartburn for everyone -- including the media -- because no one knows how to cover the story."

There was heartburn among conservative groups that have looked to Mary Cheney's father and his boss, President Bush, for leadership in the fight against gay rights and, in particular, against same-sex marriage.

"It's very disappointing that a celebrity couple like this would deliberately bring into the world a child that will never have a father," said Janice Crouse of Concerned Women of America, a conservative coalition that said it promotes "Biblical values and family traditions."

Crouse described Mary Cheney's pregnancy as "unconscionable."

There was also heartburn from gay-rights groups. Family Pride, which advocates on behalf of gay and lesbian families, said the vice president faces "a lifetime of sleepless nights" for his role in an administration that has vigorously fought same-sex marriage.

Just about the only people who aren't experiencing heartburn -- at least not publicly -- are the Cheneys themselves.

"The vice president and Mrs. Cheney are looking forward with eager anticipation to the arrival of their sixth grandchild," Cheney's spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride told ABC News.

To conservatives, this is all about the sanctity of marriage.

"Just because you can conceive a child outside one-woman, one-marriage doesn't mean it's a good idea," said Carrie Gordon Earll, a policy analyst for the conservative Christian ministry Focus on the Family.

Mary Cheney is not speaking publicly about her pregnancy, but earlier this year she told ABC's Diane Sawyer that as she sees it, "Heather and I already are married. We have built a home and a life together. I hope I get to spend the rest of my life with her."