Gregory Kane of the Baltimore Sun responds to a story in his own paper from earlier this week – and notes that instead of criticizing teens who reproduce while still in high school, we no stigmatize those who find out-of-wedlock pregnancy and birth unacceptable.

Can I be the only one who finds something wrong with this quote?
"They didn't cater to pregnant girls at all. They don't have any sympathy for you. The attitude is, 'It's your fault.'"

Thus spake Alyssa Boyd, with all the wisdom accumulated from living 17 long years on this earth, in an article by Sun reporter Sara Neufeld that ran Monday.

According to Neufeld's article, Boyd was a top student at Western High School before she got pregnant and transferred to the Laurence G. Paquin Middle/High School, which has a history of giving pregnant girls the opportunity to continue their education.

Now I wouldn't presume to judge Ms. Boyd for getting pregnant. The truth is, I can't. In today's society, we judge folks who object to teen pregnancy. Heaven forbid we should judge the teens themselves.

But I'm having trouble with Boyd's line about "the attitude is, 'It's your fault.'"
Well, Ms. Boyd, aside from the young man who made you pregnant, just whose fault is your pregnancy, exactly?

I’m one who finds the quote absurd, but I’m not surprised. I’ve heard stuff along that line too many times in the past. Heck, I had one 18-year-old single mother tell me that her THIRD out-of-wedlock, in-high-school pregnancy was all the fault of the state of Texas – because Medicaid wouldn’t pay to tie her tubes after the second baby and “its not like they can expect me to stop having sex, since I live with their daddy!”

She thought I was an awful human being when I explained that unless a team of Texas Rangers knocked down her door and held her in place while then-Gov. George W. Bush personally impregnated her, it was not the fault of the state of Texas.

After all, how could I be so lacking in sympathy, or have the attitude of “It’s your fault.”

I mean, it isnÂ’t like we can expect a little self-control.

Posted by: Greg at 01:54 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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