"When Heather and I decided to have a baby, it was not going to be the most
popular decision ever," acknowledged Miss Cheney, 37, referring to Heather Poe,
her girlfriend of 15 years.
"This is a baby. This is a blessing from God. It is not a political statement.
"It is not a prop to be used in a debate by people on either side of an issue.
It is my child," she said, gesturing to her midriff during a panel discussion
in New York organised by Glamour magazine.
Her comments re-ignited the debate over a pregnancy that has upset traditional
religious Right supporters of the Bush administration and prompted homosexual
rights groups to call for her to take a higher profile.
Miss Cheney, an AOL executive, was one of her father's closest aides during the
2004 campaign, during which he and President George W Bush relied heavily on
the support of evangelical Christians.
She was criticised by gay and lesbian groups for saying nothing when Mr Bush
made his calls for a ban on same-sex marriage a key election issue. But last
week she dismissed criticism by James Dobson, a religious Right leader close to
the White House, who after her pregnancy was revealed wrote that "birth and
adoption are the purview of married heterosexual couples".
Miss Cheney responded: "Every piece of responsible research that has been done
in the last 20 years on this issue has shown there is no difference between
children who are raised by same-sex parents and children who are raised by
opposite-sex parents. What matters is that children are being raised in a
stable, loving environment."
Miss Cheney has not revealed the manner of conception of her child, which is
due in the spring. The vice-president recently said he was delighted that he
would soon have a sixth grandchild, but angrily refused to comment on Mr
Dobson's remarks.
