I've had my say, how about you?
There are now three posts on the question:
How can it be assured that as many pregnancies as possible are wanted pregnancies so that abortions are as rare as possible?
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posted by Craig R. Harmon at 11:40 PM
16 Comments:
Briefly -- marriage counseling will, I would hope, counsel those who should not be married to avoid it. Education of children about the risks of sex (by parents) will cut down on unprotected premarital sex, thereby eliminating many too-young pregnancies. Parents and clergy, really -- the folks we have always looked to for moral guidance in our lives,
Thank you for your comment. I hope you will return regularly.
Better birth control options/methods. *Accurate* BC info distributed relentlessly, everywhere, to everyone. More $$$ to research BC.
Telling peeps not to have sex is not very effective in reducing unwanted pregnancy, unless you're prepared to back it up with draconian measures.
Paula
http://paulalight.blogspot.com
"Wanted"? Well, if the early preg. is carried full term then it is wanted. If aborted (early) then it is not wanted.
Simple huh?
I'd say removing the stigma that comes with young women taking a birth control pill. Possibly even changing the name to "hormone control" pill might make enough of a difference.
Also, ensuring that the pill is covered by insurance companies. This would make all the difference in the world. Kids are going to have sex if you tell them to or not - we can only provide the means for them to protect themselves.
Maddie,
What's your point?
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous:
Your comment was removed because it was an ad hominem, personal attack and thus, did not meet the requirements of my clearly stated rules.
Eh. Can't log into Blogger from within BlogClicker.
Parents and clergy are where it starts for many, but there are a lot of kids who don't attend religious services (I was one of them). My parents also were either too embarrassed to talk with us about sex, or they thought that if they didn't, we wouldn't know anything at all. (That being said, we knew the rules implicitly, although I know that can't be said for everyone.)
Because parents and clergy cannot always be the answer, the loophole has to be closed with readily accessible birth control, and as Maine said, removing the stigma (particularly for girls!) in using BC.
Insurance isn't the answer either; for example, I could NEVER have asked my parents to get me birth control, and I suspect the same applies to most kids. Well, maybe not MOST in this day and age, but at least many.
So, give it out in schools? The idea goes against everything I believe in, but it might be the only answer. Sometimes compromise is necessary to reach the intended goal. I just don't believe it really will encourage kids to have sex if they're not going to anyway--it seems illogical to me that a kid will say, "hey, free birth control! I think I'll go have sex now!" when kids, by virtue of their age/emotional development, are more likely to have sex whether BC is easily available or not.
Maybe the idea would be less distasteful with a LOT of counseling attached to it, but then the question becomes a financial one for the public. I think it's time for my fellow conservatives to take a second look at the big picture and decide if it's abortion we want to eradicate first, or if it's acknowledgement of the (SERIOUS) problem of kids having sex first. For me, abortion is a more-easily fixed problem, at least in the short term. I think teen sex is already a problem that's too far gone to have any real public solutions, at least for now.
Beth
Fiona,
You are not the only atheist to post/comment here. A Christian Minister I am but your personal life choices are your business; neither I nor anyone else will make anything of them here. If you're looking for condemnation, you've come to the wrong place.
i hope you do not teach politics instead of the bible in church like too many pastors do these days. i quit going to church because of that.
proponentofreason.blogspot.com
N, I don't.
And I hope that you do not try to reason anyone out of their faith like many proponents of reason do. I've stopped reading several blogs for this reason.
But neither of these comments has anything to do with the topic under discussion.
In my opinion , the extreme religious right wing has to make a choice. Or they stop protesting against free or cheap distribution of condoms and birth control pills and let children be educated. Or they keep condemn that and stop their protest against abortion, which will rise. Young people won't stop having sex because they say so. You can however try to make sure that if they choose to have sex, that they do it in a responsible way.
I think that every child should be a wanted child. I've worked with problem children and often they don't live in loving homes. Access to contraception should be easy. I think that girls should also be reassured that they can say 'no' and mean it. Pressure is often excerted by potential grandparents. It's cruel to assume that your offspring will automatically provide a stock of Grandchildren!
It is not only desperately sad that children are unwanted but is a self-perpetuating state. Deprived teenage girls often get pregnant on purpose to have someone who will love them. Some girls in that situation, to their credit, do make good mothers and bring up well-adjusted children. Most don't. Kids brought up in an environment where they're slapped around by whichever man happens to be sleeping with their mother at the moment don't stand much of a chance.
Contraception won't stop these pregnancies - the girls are trying to get pregnant.
It is often argued that the alternative to abortion is to have pregnant girls carry the baby to term, and then give him up for adoption. Whilst it would be nice if people did that (and I understand that healthy babies are easy to place in adoptive families - it's older and disabled kids that have difficulties) it's asking a lot of a young, vulnerable girl. When my wife was pregnant with our eldest, she was sick for 5 and a half months, 24 hours a day. She would vomit once or twice per day, and never had a moment when she didn't feel sick. It's a pretty big deal to go through that, and to do it for a baby that you don't want and aren't going to keep must be very hard.
I agree that it is sad when children are unwanted and unfortunate that we cannot assure that only wanted children are conceived or born. There are no easy answers. Thank you for your contribution.
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