Thursday 26 February 2009

Teenage pregnancy

The most recent stats for teenage pregnancy in the UK show a rise. This despite (or possibly because of) the government's strategy to reduce teenage pregnancy,which they claimed was working. Actually, the stats that suggest it was working were almost certainly wrong, as they do not include 'morning after' abortion pills which end pregnancy in the early stages. But now, even with the huge numbers of those pills not being counted, the figure has still gone up.

This is because the government is not addressing the real issue. What we need is a 'teenage sex reduction strategy' rather than a teenage pregnancy reduction strategy. And what we are getting is precisely the opposite. the latest government contribution is a booklet telling parent NOT to tell their kids that under-age sex is wrong, but rather to go with them to get their contraceptives, if that's what they want... And guess what, not only will pregnancy rates continue to rise, despite not counting those early abortions, but so will sexually transmitted diseases, not to mention the emotional and psychological damage done to these kids, from which the government, the schools and all responsible adults should be protecting them.

2 comments:

George Carmody said...

"What we need is a 'teenage sex reduction strategy' rather than a teenage pregnancy reduction strategy."

You've absolutely hit the nail on the head. But the government, its agencies and its apologists are running scared of that because they'd then have to rein in the "rights" agenda (i.e. teenagers have a "right" to sex) that they've been peddling. They'd also have to repatriate some of the authority they've stolen from parents, and no government, least of all this one, likes losing power, particularly not to an idealogical enemy such as The Family.

Ben Trovato said...

Yes, that is the fatal flaw: unless and until the government is prepared to address promiscuous sex, their strategies will be futile. And as you see, I can't see this government (or any probable alternative) tackling that one...