Young Women Must Think and Act Differently

      It might surprise you to know that teenage girls ages 15 -17 are NOT  responsible for the ever growing so-called teen pregnancy problem which makes us a nation with the highest rate of unwed pregnancy in the world. But, rather young adult women are. As a group teens are responsible for over 30% of unwed births in the US. Young teen girls (under 1 account for only 13% of those births, whereas  young adult women (age 18 and up) are responsible for the rest.

These are not kids having kids, but rather young adult women who are intentionally choosing unmarried motherhood! I found this alarming to say the least. What self-respecting woman would choose a path so full of difficulty for herself and her children–intentionally?!

I was also surprised to learn that the rate of teen pregnancy today is lower than it was back in the 50’s and 60’s. Now why is that? Is responsible reproductive education and practices the key? No, not at all. In fact, contraception education fails to translate into responsible action, and for the record, research has shown that young teen girls have the worst tract record for “appropriate” use of contraception (although I must confess that I don’t see any appropriate use of contraception because it is an abortifacient–and well that’s a different discussion all together).

In the 50’s and 60’s teenage women did something teenage women don’t do today–they married the father of their child. And, that is the missing part of the picture when it comes to discussions about teen pregnancy. Back then, young childbearing women chose marriage. They wanted the benefits of marriage for themselves and their children. Are today’s young adult moms uninterested in the benefits of healthy marriages to them and their child? I think the answer is absolutely not–if they knew about it and understood its benefits, and if cultural messages about marriage were accurate and positive they too would most likely choose married motherhood over unmarried motherhood.

One thing I know for certain is that women, despite race, education, socioeconomic status, etc. share a unique dignity that propels us toward what is best for us and our loved ones. Given the facts about healthy marriage and an opportunity to make personal changes (with adequate support) women would not choose unwed motherhood simply because it’s not good enough for us and those we love–namely the little ones that spring forth from our wombs. If given the facts and opportunity, young women would think and act differently. Read Maggie Gallagher’s full report on this issue of unwed motherhood and the role young adult women are playing in it at www.americanvalues.org. The name of the report is The Age of Unwed Mothers Is Teen Pregnancy the Problem? I’d love to hear your thoughts about this!

“The level of any civilization is the level of its womanhood…If we love music, we submit to its laws and disciplines. When man loves woman, it follows that the nobler the woman, the nobler the love; the higher the demands made by the woman, the more worthy a man must be. That is why woman is the measure of the level of our civilization.”
–Archbishop Fulton Sheen