Twelve

Not for the squeamish.

Just a few possibly related items for your consideration:

1) The current average age for menarche is twelve. This is a girl's first menstrual period. Some girls are fertile before the onset of menarche; others cannot become pregnant until months or years afterward. But the average age of possible pregnancy is 12. Most girls are just starting 7th grade then.

2) From "Palin's fiscal priorities clash with anti-crime agenda," by Ashby Jones, Wall Street Journal 10/02:

In 2007, Alaska's rates of forcible rape outpaced all 50 states, and for most of the past 20 years it has exceeded the national rate -- at least twice as high in many years. In a recent study partly funded by the U.S. Department of Justice that examined sexual-assault cases reported to Alaska state troopers in 2003 and 2004, some 65% of the victims were 15 years of age or younger. "Our sexual-violence problem is severe," says Andre Rosay, a professor at the University of Alaska-Anchorage and co-author of the study. "And the statistics we have probably don't tell the full story."

3) From www.factcheck.org, on the question of whether or not Sarah Palin was in favor of requiring women to pay for rape test kits:

We've seen countless Internet and e-mail claims that Sarah Palin forced women to pay for their own forensic testing when reporting a rape. Unlike some claims about Palin, this one has some merit, though Palin's precise role is unclear. Here's the story:

In 2000, complaints about this practice in rural cities including Wasilla prompted the Alaska Legislature to pass a bill preventing alleged victims of sexual assault from being billed for forensic tests. It was signed into law by then-Gov. Tony Knowles. Palin had been the mayor of Wasilla for four years at the time, and a local paper reported that the Wasilla police chief, Charlie Fannon, defended the practice, saying he had billed women and their insurance companies for these tests rather than placing a "burden" on taxpayers:

4) Gov. Palin is on record as saying she opposes allowing women who are forcibly impregnanted due to rape or incest the option of terminating that pregnancy. She voiced this in 2006 when running for governor and again in a recent interview with ABC's Charlie Gibson:

McCain supports abortion in instances of rape or incest, but Palin, a mother of a 5-month-old infant with Down syndrome, said she would advocate abortion only if a mother's life was in danger.

You may favor her views, or you may not.