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How Teens Deal With… Pregnancy
by Meagan Richardson
February 13, 2007

While gazing around the school a certain topic popped in my mind, teen pregnancy.   Teen pregnancy, although not as high as it used to be, is still a concern these days. According to the March of Dimes, between the years 1991 and 2002 the teenage birth rate declined 30 percent. This issue has been a concern for centuries, however, society also being what it is today, is not as highly critical of teen parents as the have been in the past. Should they be? Should teens our age be pregnant?

Through society’s evolution, teen pregnancy has been handled several different ways. In the 50’s and early 60’s, teenage pregnancy was considered “taboo” and parents sent their children away to have their babies somewhere other than the home. The babies were usually given up for adoption and the teen parents were forced to move on with their life. Teen pregnancy slowly became more accepted in the late 60’s with the “free love” movement and Hippies. Birth control was legalized in 1969 and shortly thereafter abortion in 1973. During the 80’s, pregnant teenagers were sent to special schools and classes; sending the pregnant teen away was happening less and less. The 90’s and now brought upon more acceptance towards pregnancy in teens. A scenario would be a pregnant teen couple whose parents wish to force them to abort the child. This being the year 2007, Should the parents or guardians have the right to make the teen abort?

Being a child of teen pregnancy myself, I am not too critical on the matter. However, I also believe a teen should not keep the child if they cannot support it.  I myself am highly opposed to the idea of abortion but feel that adoption is always a choice. Pregnancy should not be taken lightly, and by becoming pregnant you conceive a life that depends entirely on you.  While researching the topic, I found out according to March of Dimes about 860,000 teenagers become pregnant each year and out of those approximately 425,000 actually give birth. Many teens are not ready to become parents. They are not financially stable, secure, and few have reliable help for when the baby comes. Along with the prior stated issues, teen pregnancy brings upon many other risks for the mother and child, these being premature births, high blood pressure, and anemia.

Various choices are given for teens that become pregnant, those being abortion, adoption, the Morning After Pill (Plan B), or simply keeping the child. If you are not familiar with Plan B, the Mayo Clinic’s web site, states that it is a very safe alternative to pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse.

Many organizations and people are willing to help teenage mothers. A few helpful organizations for pregnant teens are March of Dimes and Healthy Teen Network. Guidance counselors, teachers, and churches are also available to talk about certain issues including teen pregnancy.  

For further information, listed below are a few helpful web sites:

http://www.americanadoptions.com/pregnant/teen_pregnancy

http://birthright.reachlocal.net/

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/morning-after-pill/AN00592

http://www.marchofdimes.com/