Teen pregnancy in Texas is on the rise and we need to put measures in place now in order to get it under control. Let's face it, abstinence is not working. We need to provide these young teens with contraceptives in order to avoid future pregnancies. Senate Bill 592 which has passed a preliminary vote, would apply to mothers ages 16 and older who are already mothers. The bill would provide contraceptives to these young mothers without the consent of their parents in efforts to deter repeated pregnancy. Some representatives are proposing an amendment to the bill would require the parents or legal guardians to be notified later.
Opponents to the bill argue that this would only encourage bad behavior. I say that this is ridiculous. First of all this bill is aimed towards girls who have already engaged in sexual activity and have already had kids. Chances are these young teens are going to repeat this behavior so why not put something in place to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Second, some girls are still embarrassed to talk with their parents about sex and this bill would provide them access to this much needed contraceptive. Regarding the amendment, if it will help to pass the bill then I say great, but regardless if parents are aware of their teenager's sexual activity or not, the teenagers are going to engage in these activities. Let's give these girls the ability to at least try and take some responsibility to protect themselves from another unwanted pregnancy.
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This is in response to Dinora’s “Teen Mothers Need Help Blog.” The bill that is being considered 592 will provide contraceptives to teenage mothers in order to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with this measure. I know that ideally we would want our teenagers to practice abstinence but this is not how it usually occurs so why not make contraceptives available? Especially if you already have children. I agree with Dinora that there are still many teens who not ask a parent for contraceptives. If a teenager has to tell their parents that they need contraceptives most of them will not, if we make it easier for them to obtain contraceptives, we will at least have less unwanted pregnancies and therefore less abortions. We all know that teen pregnancies and abortions hurt the economy, and contraceptives do not necessarily encourage a teen to have sex because they will anyway, it only helps do it responsibly.
Along with contraceptives I agree with the fact of giving our teenagers the education and information they need in order for them to make a smarter decision when having sex. This only covers unwanted pregnancies but not sexually transmitted diseases, but it’s a start. I don’t understand why parents of teen mothers would need to be notified of this change.
Parents always think that their teenager would tell them everything, but the truth is that’s what you may think, but they do NOT tell you EVERYTHING. So, parents, please help your teen help herself, by supporting this bill.
As I read Dinora's Blog of "Teen moms need help", I found an article that Texas is one of the states that are leading high percent of teen pregnancies. Couples of teenagers facing several negativities such as lack of sex education, regrets, baby murders, disappointing to Parents, worries of financials, lost their plans, so on.
ReplyDeleteThe article mention that this issue is the first time in 15 years and they are unsure why this happening this time. Statistically, "Sixty-three out of 1,000 girls become pregnant in Texas between the ages of 15 to 19 comparing to the national average is 43 out of every 1,000, which is a higher rate than many other countries."
Interestingly about what Dinora post in her blog that the Senate Bill 592 which has passed a preliminary vote, would apply to mothers ages 16 and older who are already mothers that they will give birth control methods to them without parent's permit. Somewhat, Dinora against the idea and present a good point that the teenagers already had sex and will repeat the sexual activities as well. She suggested why not place them into unwanted pregnancy. However, in my opinion, I somewhat disagreed. If the senate passed this bill and give out the birth control contraceptives to those teens, I think it is a great idea because first, teenagers may not afford it. Second, it is difficult to ask parents' permit but teenagers decided to have sex so that their decision and the birth control methods should be part of it. Third, it prevents them getting pregnancy again!
I would like to add something from what I learned during my teenage year. My school offered sex education course and explained every single birth control contraceptives so we can learn if we happen to be interested to use. In additional, we watched couple of films that demonstrated teen mothers and their experiences. The teen mothers explained her experiences of what they had been thru in negatives, positives, mistakes and regrets. We got impact from that and learned not to live their way. We learned from their mistakes by not using their mistakes to repeat in our lives. On the other hands, my concern those teenagers in 21st century could be very different generation and different concept of this.
One thing I do not understand, we are in 21st century and nowadays, those cultures in America are somewhat opening their minds to any issues. We should not be afraid to face to parents about this issue. Correct me wrong, maybe this is still little too early but right now, parents are starting to educating their children at the young age and hoping that generation would make a big different.
In her post, “Teen Mothers Need Help,” Dinora discusses why she believes Senate Bill 592 should be passed. First, Dinora discusses what the bill encompasses. She explains that the bill would allow women, “ages 16 and older who are already mothers,” the ability to use contraceptives, “without the consent of their parents in efforts to deter repeated pregnancy.” Second, Dinora explains why some representatives oppose the passing of the bill because they believe, “that this would only encourage bad behavior.” Although this is a good point brought up by the representatives, Dinora rebukes the bill is only “aimed towards” women and teens that already have children. Thus, these women and teens “have already engaged in sexual activity and have already had kids.” Dinora’s point is, with or with out contraceptives, the teen girls are more than likely going to continue participating in sexual activity, and the bill will allow them protection without having to go through their parents to get it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dinora that teens who are already mothers are going to continue to participate in sexual activity. Although I believe that if contraceptives are not available to teens without their parents’ consent, they may be more apprehensive to participate in such activities. Also, if the girls are trying to “take some responsibility to protect themselves from another unwanted pregnancy,” they need to stop engaging in sexual activity because they are already living the consequences of their previous surprise.
Overall, Dinora’s post is informative and well written although she does not offer any evidentiary support. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion and I respect Dinora’s opinion about Senate Bill 592’s passing wholeheartedly.
In Dinora’s blog, she explains the Bill 592. The Bill would allow mothers at age 16 and older to receive contraceptives without their parents knowing. Dinora argues that this would help the girls who already have a child because chances are they are going to continue sexual activities. She also states that some girls are still embarrassed at this age to talk with their parents.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dinora. In this article (http://www.alleyshouse.org/tnpreg.htm), it says that Texas is the leading state in the nation for the percentage of teen mothers. It also say that Texas leads the nation in repeat births to girls aged 15 to 19. Obviously what Texas is doing now isn’t working. We need to try new things to help these uneducated teens. If we are the leading state for repeat pregnancies in girls 15 to 19, then why not pass this bill? We need something to stop this. The article I mentioned above also states that “Babies born to mothers aged 15-17 have less supportive and stimulating home environments, poorer health, lower cognitive development, worse educational outcomes, higher rates of behavior problems and higher rates of teen childbearing themselves.” Why would anyone want this for a child? If we can help prevent at least some of the teen pregnancies then we should do so.