Addressing the government's role in teen pregnancy
By Qazi N. Uddin 12/03/2009
We all agree that teenage pregnancy is a menace to our society. From all consideration, it is very detrimental for a teenage mother’s and her child’s quality of life. Teenage pregnancy, which is known as “babies having babies,” is so disturbing that as soon as a teenage pregnancy is revealed, the teenager involved loses all kinds of support and sympathy, first of all, from her own parents and then from the rest of the people known to her.
That is why a pregnant teenager might suffer from depression. This depression persists, whether she opts for abortion, adoption or raising her baby on her own. The prospect of the father being responsible is very remote. Abortion creates a guilty feeling, generates a sense of deprivation, and the decision to raise the baby develops anxiety, hopelessness and insecurity.
In such a measurable situation, a pregnant teenager cannot concentrate on pursuing her career objectives and becoming a productive member of the society. She acquires a new stigma as “irresponsible single mother,” which is not really glorified in the real world outside of Hollywood. This is the most natural outcome of being pregnant as a teenager.
So what should we do? We human beings were able to develop some wonderful concepts of regulating our sexual desires by getting married and starting a family life. This is how we created this sustainable civilization. However, during the last 50 years in the United States, we decided to deviate from that path, and some of our intellectuals started writing books entitled “Good Riddance” to denounce the traditional family life. Our film industries decided to promote and glorify having babies out of wedlock and single parenting. In addition, our society has become very lenient and permissive toward premarital and immature sexual relations among our young generation. As a consequence, we are witnessing a surge in all kinds of indiscriminate sexual behaviors resulting in AIDS, STDs and teenage pregnancy.
However, since indiscriminate sex may culminate in unwanted pregnancy regardless of precautionary measures and distribution of condoms among teenagers, society remains passive and unsympathetic toward the plight of the baby mothers and their children. So our benevolent government wanted to play the role of a Good Samaritan. It has designed plans and programs to rescue our pregnant teenagers. The state of California, through its Social Services Agency, designed a program known as “Minor Consent Services,” which is defined as such: “Minor Consent Services are certain ‘sensitive services’ covered under Medi-Cal for which a child may apply without parental consent.”
Basically, it is telling our teenage girls, “If you are sexually active, your parents do not need to know that. You can come to us. We will provide you with birth control pills and condoms.” The intention of our government is obvious: control teenage pregnancy. However, despite such precautionary measures, pregnancy does occur. So the government again came up with a plan to tell our teenage girls, “If you get pregnant, don’t worry about it. You still can come to us. We will help you to get an abortion. What if you don’t want an abortion? We will help you to give up your baby for adoption. You want to keep your baby? No problem. You still can come to us and we will provide you with pregnancy-related services until your baby is born and you are under 21 years of age. Then you are on your own. You have to find your way in this wonderful real world without being prepared to face it.” Of course, the last sentence is mine. The government is not announcing it to a pregnant teenager. What a wonderful social service! And what a wonderful way to eliminate teenage pregnancy!
Does it occur to anyone in our government that in its effort to control teenage pregnancy, it is in fact promoting immature sexual activity, it is removing the fear of getting pregnant? The assumption on the part of our government is that teenagers will have sex no matter what, and because the family and society out there are very intolerant about teenage pregnancy, it is our sacred duty to do something about it. Of course, we have to use your tax money to be able to do that!
How did we end up in such a big mess? The answer is very simple. When parents are off the hook (they don’t have to know whether their teenagers are sexually active), when disintegration of traditional family life has been glorified as “Good Riddance,” when society becomes permissive toward deviant human behavior, then the big government should step in with its innovative ideas.
Qazi N. Uddin is a resident of Ventura.
That is why a pregnant teenager might suffer from depression. This depression persists, whether she opts for abortion, adoption or raising her baby on her own. The prospect of the father being responsible is very remote. Abortion creates a guilty feeling, generates a sense of deprivation, and the decision to raise the baby develops anxiety, hopelessness and insecurity.
In such a measurable situation, a pregnant teenager cannot concentrate on pursuing her career objectives and becoming a productive member of the society. She acquires a new stigma as “irresponsible single mother,” which is not really glorified in the real world outside of Hollywood. This is the most natural outcome of being pregnant as a teenager.
So what should we do? We human beings were able to develop some wonderful concepts of regulating our sexual desires by getting married and starting a family life. This is how we created this sustainable civilization. However, during the last 50 years in the United States, we decided to deviate from that path, and some of our intellectuals started writing books entitled “Good Riddance” to denounce the traditional family life. Our film industries decided to promote and glorify having babies out of wedlock and single parenting. In addition, our society has become very lenient and permissive toward premarital and immature sexual relations among our young generation. As a consequence, we are witnessing a surge in all kinds of indiscriminate sexual behaviors resulting in AIDS, STDs and teenage pregnancy.
However, since indiscriminate sex may culminate in unwanted pregnancy regardless of precautionary measures and distribution of condoms among teenagers, society remains passive and unsympathetic toward the plight of the baby mothers and their children. So our benevolent government wanted to play the role of a Good Samaritan. It has designed plans and programs to rescue our pregnant teenagers. The state of California, through its Social Services Agency, designed a program known as “Minor Consent Services,” which is defined as such: “Minor Consent Services are certain ‘sensitive services’ covered under Medi-Cal for which a child may apply without parental consent.”
Basically, it is telling our teenage girls, “If you are sexually active, your parents do not need to know that. You can come to us. We will provide you with birth control pills and condoms.” The intention of our government is obvious: control teenage pregnancy. However, despite such precautionary measures, pregnancy does occur. So the government again came up with a plan to tell our teenage girls, “If you get pregnant, don’t worry about it. You still can come to us. We will help you to get an abortion. What if you don’t want an abortion? We will help you to give up your baby for adoption. You want to keep your baby? No problem. You still can come to us and we will provide you with pregnancy-related services until your baby is born and you are under 21 years of age. Then you are on your own. You have to find your way in this wonderful real world without being prepared to face it.” Of course, the last sentence is mine. The government is not announcing it to a pregnant teenager. What a wonderful social service! And what a wonderful way to eliminate teenage pregnancy!
Does it occur to anyone in our government that in its effort to control teenage pregnancy, it is in fact promoting immature sexual activity, it is removing the fear of getting pregnant? The assumption on the part of our government is that teenagers will have sex no matter what, and because the family and society out there are very intolerant about teenage pregnancy, it is our sacred duty to do something about it. Of course, we have to use your tax money to be able to do that!
How did we end up in such a big mess? The answer is very simple. When parents are off the hook (they don’t have to know whether their teenagers are sexually active), when disintegration of traditional family life has been glorified as “Good Riddance,” when society becomes permissive toward deviant human behavior, then the big government should step in with its innovative ideas.
Qazi N. Uddin is a resident of Ventura.
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