Nancy Pelosi on Teen Pregnancy

Teen pregnancy and sex are obviously important issues in our culture. I don't have kids or know a lot of teens, so in that respect I'm not an expert. But, I think all Christians need to be aware of this issue and how it is handled in our culture. And I tend to think that we probably need to have a little more information for teens than "just say no."

Carol Platt Liebau at Townhall is someone who has done a lot of thinking and research on this issue and is a great resource if you are interested. She had some great comments about a recent appearance by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi:

Here is YouTube footage of Nancy Pelosi speaking to the Netroots Nation, impugning the idea of teaching children to abstain from sex as a "radical right wing view."

I've written before about the harmful and false dichotomy that people like Nancy Pelosi try to create between "abstinence education" and "comprehensive sex education." It's perfectly possible to inform young people about how their bodies work, where babies come from, and the existence of contraceptives while still teaching them that sex is something for adults -- for people who are mature enough to cope with the (often unexpected) emotional, psychological and physical ramifications (including the possibility of an STD or unwanted pregnancy) that can accompany sexual activity.

Too often, "comprehensive sex education" becomes a code term for adopting a studiously value-neutral about teen sexual activity. The approach validates, normalizes -- and occasionally even celebrates -- teen sex, which is the last message young people need to be getting. It increases the social pressures on those who want to be responsible, and implicitly ignores the emotional, psychological -- and, for people of faith -- spiritual fallout of giving too much, too soon (especially for girls).

High School Baby Boom

From Carol Platt Liebau over at Townhall:

Time Magazine is running a story out of Gloucester, MA, about a group of teen girls -- none older than 16 -- who made a pact to get pregnant.

Apparently the school noticed an increase in girls visiting the school nurse for pregnancy tests and found out a group of them had decided to get pregnant and raise their children together.

Liebau continues:

Remarkably, the piece goes on:

Even with national data showing a 3% rise in teen pregnancies in 2006--the first increase in 15 years--Gloucester isn't sure it wants to provide easier access to birth control.

Wait just a minute. How, exactly, would "easier access to birth control" have impacted this situation? These girls decided to get pregnant on purpose.

Note the mention in passing that teen pregnancy rates are on the rise, and the implicit assumption that handing out condoms in schools--or giving girls birth control pills without their parents' knowledge, which was proposed at this high school--is the solution.

Liebau has done a lot of thinking on this issue and has even written a book, Prude, about our sex-obssessed culture. She has some more interesting thoughts on the Time article.

The problem underlying teen pregnancy isn't practical (access to or knowledge of contraceptives) or even biological. It's an ethical, moral and spiritual problem. It's a matter of inadequate attention being paid to the formation of young people's character and values.

Apparently the girls wanted to have babies so someone would love them unconditionally. Liebau closes this way:

As for being loved unconditionally -- where are the churches? Isn't
the key part of the good news that Someone already has that covered?