Special Report on Teens and Abortion
Introduction
Recent news reports have put teens and abortion in the news, with the release of undercover videos allegedly showing abortion businesses covering up cases of sexual abuse involving teenage girls. And the pro-abortion Alan Guttmacher Institute has released a report saying that teen pregnancies rose 3 percent in 2006. While critics are questioning the statistics in the study, it seems everyone otherwise agrees that teen pregnancy represents a crisis.
Abortion advocates would solve this “problem” with abortion. But is abortion best for teens? How does it affect them? What about teens who’ve been there? This special edition of The Elliot Institute News examines some of these questions.
Is Abortion Better for Teens Than Unplanned Pregnancy?
Research Says Teens Face More Mental Health Risks, Even When Pregnancy is Unplanned
Are teens who abort better off than teens who carry an unplanned pregnancy to term?
Not according to a study published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence. The study found that adolescent girls who abort unintended pregnancies are five times more likely to seek subsequent help for psychological and emotional problems compared to their peers who carry “unwanted” pregnancies to term.
A Generation at Risk
How Teens Are Manipulated and Coerced Into Abortion
Gaylene was 14 when she became pregnant. She turned to her high school guidance counselor for advice. She writes:
[The school counselor] was sympathetic and understanding. He felt there was no need to worry my family. He also explained about having a child, how tough it would be on me and that I wouldn’t be able to do what I wanted to do. He said that the child would suffer because I was much too young to be a parent. He pointed out that the best thing for me to do was to abort the fetus at this stage so no one would be hurt. No mention was made of talking to my parents about this or carrying the baby to term. He indicated that adoption would be difficult and not an option for me.
Helping Predators, Harming Teens
Abortion Businesses and the Cover Up of Sex Crimes
Recently, a Planned Parenthood clinic in Alabama was placed on probation for performing abortions on underage girls without parental consent, and failing to report suspected cases of statutory rape to authorities.
The violations were brought to the attention of authorities through the work of Live Action, a pro-life group that has released, at last count, 10 videos showing staff at abortion businesses counseling undercover operatives posing as minors on how to get abortions without parental consent.
No One Told Me I Could Cry
Connie Nykiel
“Sorrow makes us all children again.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
I teach childbirth education to pregnant teenagers. My job is to prepare young parents for parenthood. This includes the possibility of parenting a baby with a birth defect or being the parent of a baby that is miscarried, stillborn, or dies soon after birth.
This is the hardest class for me to teach. Young mothers don’t want to talk or think about it. It is their worst fear. I usually end up telling them that if it is too painful to think about their own babies dying, then listen and learn how to help others who have lost a baby.
