…by ending unwanted pregnancies.
A recent study showed that 49% of the pregnancies concluding in 1994 were unintended; 54% of these ended in abortion.
Clearly, if we want to get some traction on reducing the number of teenager pregnancies we should look toward the “pro-life” movement as partners rather than adversaries.
It is a well researched fact that poverty and a host of downstream social ills disproportionately haunt teenage mothers. The progress that we can make as a society by drastically reducing (even eliminating) unplanned pregnancies among teens should outweigh any discomfort liberal have with getting into bed with “anti-abortion” voters.
So let’s allow that abortion is a medical procedure that should be regarded as a last resort. What practical steps toward reducing the need for the abortion option should we take immediately?
Just off the top of my head:
1) Eliminate “abstinence only” sex education. This policy is a blight. Not only should it be eliminated it should probably be outlawed. Any schools or districts that use an abstinence only curriculum should lose any state and federal funding. It is that harmful.
2) Give parents real tools for frank sex ed at home that can be reinforced in school. Parents need to take some responsibility and give their children the vocabulary and tools to deal with sex in age appropriate ways. The federal government should publish a no nonsense series that helps parents talk about contraception and lower risk sexuality activities such as petting and masturbation.
3) Stop TV’s “Rachael and Ross” from having a baby in episode 5 only for it to vanish by episode 9. Oh, I can hear my fellow liberals say that I am trying to legislate morality and impose my views on everybody – but it is not morality, this is a public health crisis. Just as you would not find a character on TV shooting heroin on day and going on with their life the next – neither should children be exposed to characters that they like and admire making babies one day and going on as if it is no big deal the next.
4) Pay girls not to get knocked up. Okay this is shocking, but we need some carrots as well as sticks. So, every girl baby born from today onward would get a $3,000 bond in addition to their birth certificate. That bond would mature in 21 years provided that they did not get pregnant in the meantime. There would be no means testing and the bond would be issued to very single baby girl born in Delaware. Think of it as insurance. The money paid out to the 21 year old childless women would be peanuts compared to what we currently pay to try and stay in front of the healthcare costs of taking care of the babies of babies.