Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has been called “no friend to animals” by many animal rights activists, mainly for her unyielding support for hunters, but she certainly likes to use animal metaphors.

“Palin on Friday told an anti-abortion rights group that women will lead a Republican wave and stop the Democratic agenda. She also criticized President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul,” the Associated Press reports.

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The AP article adds, “Palin said female activists Ã¢â‚¬â€ ‘mama grizzlies,’ she calls them Ã¢â‚¬â€ will help the party ‘take this country back.’ Palin decried Democrats’ position on abortion rights and said Obama is ‘the most pro-abortion president ever to occupy the White House.'”

But the AP points out, “In fact, Obama’s health care law would not allow federal dollars to pay for elective abortions. Catholic hospitals and organizations of Catholic nuns backed the measure. U.S. Catholic bishops and major anti-abortion groups opposed it.”

A story at the Washington Post notes that the unsuccessful 2008 candidate for Vice President spoke at a “breakfast gathering Friday of the Susan B. Anthony List in downtown Washington,… urging more than 500 audience members to back only those candidates for public office who are uncompromisingly opposed to abortion. ”

“Being a pro-life politician is more than just a convenient title, come election time,” Palin said. “It means making tough decisions even if it means bucking your party.” …. “The mama grizzlies, they rise up,” she said, to laughter. “You thought pit bulls are tough. You don’t want to mess with the mama grizzlies. And I think there are a whole lot of those in this room.” …. Palin also told of her teenage daughter Bristol’s decision, after becoming pregnant, to keep her baby. And Palin criticized abortion-rights advocates for delivering the message to young mothers that they don’t have the strength to go through with pregnancy and motherhood. “Our prominent woman sisterhood is telling these young women that they are strong enough to deal with this,” Palin said. “They can give their child life, in addition to pursuing career and education and avocations. Society wants to tell these young women otherwise. These feminist groups want to tell these women that, ‘No, you’re not capable of doing both.’ . . . It’s very hypocritical.”

Unlike the Associated Press article, which — at press time was just a breaking story with a few paragraphs — the Washington Post article doesn’t offer any balance or counter anything Palin said at the event Friday.

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Another report by 13 News adds,

Governor Palin also told supporters what her family experienced since her selection as John McCain’s running mate, has strengthened my unwavering support for life. After finding out her fifth child would be born with Downs Syndrome, while she herself never contemplated abortion, she empathized with women who might be tempted with that choice. She believes choosing life in that situation may not be the easiest path but its always the right path.

This video is from C-SPAN 3, uploaded by Real Clear Politics on May 14, 2009.