Teens On Pregnancy
by Lisa Miller
Issue 116 - September 24, 2008

As the school year starts, teens all over the Nation will have their first conversations together about what happened over the summer. Items of interest will naturally arise and Governor Sarah Palin's daughter will surely be discussed.

Parents will find this a good opportunity to talk with their teens about sex, pregnancy and STDs. Pro-choice parents will have to contemplate and discuss the possible life or death of their own grandchildren, the realities of the destructive emotional aspects of abortion and the hardships and financials of young parents. This puts the debate in very real, personal terms for both teens and parents.

Most parents would like to avoid a pregnancy by their daughter or son abstaining from sexual activity until they have established their own identity, are responsible about birth control if they advocate that, are capable of supporting a child they might create and generally live a life in which personal responsibility is a foundation of all they do.

Many young women find themselves isolated and exhausted without the essential support of a loving spouse, financial resources and/or family. Even with all of these neccessary supports, it is still a challenge.

Practicing a discipline of faith is a test. Discipline in the face of temptation is like a runner preparing for a marathon. Prudence, temperence and fortitude can develop over time. As we are fallible, we can make poor judgements. And still, we women can pick ourselves off the floor and work hard for financial and emotional success for ourselves and our children.

The Declaration of Independence clearly states the purpose of our Nation is to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness because we are endowed by our creator with inalienable rights. The child is neither the mistake nor responsible for an act that caused their creation. A teen is "free" to make mistakes and should be held accountable for the consequences. Adoption is still a choice available to them as is supporting their unborn child's health by self care.

If it is an unwanted pregnancy, then what? The definition of life in the dictionary is 1 a: the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body b: a principle or force that is considered to underlie the distinctive quality of animate beings c: an organismic state characterized by capacity for metabolism, growth, reaction to stimuli, and reproduction.

I'll leave to pro-choice advocates to express how they rationalize abortion beyond these facts.