Sarah Palin: I Had to 'Walk the Walk'

April 17, 2009— -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin doesn't get out much. Out of Alaska that is.

Last night, on her second trip outside the state this year, Palin reflected a bit on the experience of last year's campaign, repeated her call for energy independence and called on states to reject federal stimulus money.

But it was her emotional and personal talk about the birth of her son Trig that was most revealing.

In front of an audience of nearly 3,000 anti-abortion rights advocates in Evansville, Ind., Palin described in detail how she struggled with her fifth pregnancy last year and choked up when she spoke about Trig's birth.

"It was a time when I had to ask myself was I gonna walk the walk or I was gonna talk the talk," Palin said.

She said she learned she was pregnant with Trig while she was out of the state at an oil and gas conference.

"There, just for a fleeting moment, I thought, I knew, nobody knows me here. Nobody would ever know. I thought, wow, it is easy. It could be easy to think maybe of trying to change the circumstances. No one would know. No one would ever know."

Ultimately, Palin said she realized she had to stay true to what she'd been saying for years -- that "life is valuable because it is ordained."

"I had just enough faith to know that trying to change the circumstances wasn't any answer," Palin said.

But the governor said the experience gave her an appreciation for what women and girls facing unwanted pregnancies go through.

"I do understand what these women, what these girls go through in that thought process."

The Vanderburgh County "Freedom for Life" banquet bills itself as the largest anti-abortion rights event in the nation.