Help Our Teens Be Teenagers, Not Teen Parents

By State Senator Gilda Z. Jacobs
June 30, 2009

We’ve all seen the cable news stories about alleged “pregnancy pacts” among teenage girls. Pact or not, this is a good reminder that we need to have candid discussions with our daughters and sons about teenage pregnancy. One thing that we can all agree on is that our teenagers should be teenagers and not parents. We all agree that we need to talk to our teenagers about preventing teen pregnancies, although some of us disagree on where and when those conversations should occur.

It wasn’t so long ago that people believed that only “bad” girls got pregnant out of wedlock because “good girls don’t go all the way.” We know now that this problem isn’t about good girls and bad girls. We know that an unintended teen pregnancy can and does happen in any family. Unintended pregnancies aren’t about being good or bad. They are about young men and women making uninformed and impulsive decisions, as well as a lack of accurate information.

The statistics regarding unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases are alarming. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study, half of all pregnancies are unintended and one in four teen girls have a sexually transmitted disease.

A recent study by the Guttmacher Institute indicates a small decline in the numbers of teenagers using contraceptives. This is the opposite of data from the 1990s and early 2000s that showed improvements in teen contraceptive use and a decline in teen pregnancy. The current reduction in teen contraceptive use tracks with the increase in teen birth rates during 2006- 2007.

The only way to change these bleak statistics is with prevention. Abstinence is certainly the most important option, but to offer it as the sole option is not realistic. That is why I joined my House and Senate colleagues recently to sponsor the Pregnancy Prevention Package to improve access to family planning services. This package is a comprehensive plan to stem the incidence of unintended pregnancies, and will help improve the health information our young people receive. We should promote abstinence while still giving them accurate information on how to use protection. But in spite of all that we tell them, some teenagers are sexually active. We need to recognize that and work with our schools so that teens don’t end up parents before their time. Of course it is preferable if these conversations with teenagers happen at home with their parents. But, sadly, this does not always happen, and our teenagers really should not pay the price if their parents are uncomfortable talking to them. That is why we must offer our daughters and sons abstinence-plus sex education in our schools: making it clear to them that it is much better to wait, but explaining protection if they won’t wait.

My bills would require insurance coverage for infertility treatments if pregnancy-related benefits are provided, and require any health facility or agency that provides emergency care to offer information on and administer emergency contraception at the request of a rape victim. I have also introduced Senate Bill 64 which would expand prescription coverage to include certain contraceptives.

Children are a blessing and we should bring them into this world when we are best equipped to love them and provide good lives for them. We must do a better job of educating and talking to our young people. They should be teenagers during their teenage years. They should be parents later on when they are truly ready for the most important job they will ever have.

Senator Gilda Jacobs represents the 14th Senate District, which includes Farmington, Farmington Hills, Ferndale, Hazel Park, Huntington Woods, Lathrup Village, Oak Park, Pleasant Ridge, Royal Oak Township, Southfield and Southfield Township. She is the Minority Vice Chair of the Campaign & Election Oversight, Families & Human Services and Finance committees. She is a member of the Economic Development & Regulatory Reform and Health Policy committees. She can be reached toll-free in Lansing at 1-888-937-4453.