Isabel sent me a link to an article in Time magazine about the "pregnancy pact" incident at Gloucester High School. Nancy Gibbs brings a refreshingly rational view to Time magazine, where I usually dismiss the columns offhand as painfully biased. Her argument, in a nutshell, is that too many people have been trying to wrangle the story for political gain, mostly with regards to how the state should educate the youth about sex or how the media are indoctrinating our children with loose morals. Instead, Gibbs suggests that what we should learn from the incident is that more young people discover choosing life to be more rewarding than abortion, and are willing to take responsibility for their actions.
What if the "problem" in evidence at Gloucester High has more to do with the rejection of abortion than the acceptance of teen pregnancy?...what if the visible leap in pregnancies is part of a different trend, which the national studies confirm; not necessarily more kids having sex, or more girls getting pregnant, but more of those who do deciding to keep the baby rather than abort it...surely they deserve more sympathy and support than shame and derision, if the trend they reflect is not a typical teenager's inclination to have sex, but rather a willingness to take responsibility for the consequences.
Absolutely! That's the best take on this whole situation I've seen to date.
Posted by: Joseph the Worker | June 25, 2008 at 12:40 PM
Joseph, I was going to leave a comment on your blog about your More post, but I appear to be unable.
Posted by: PeterTerp | June 26, 2008 at 09:20 PM