I was astounded to learn today that Texas leads the nation in the number of babies born yearly to teenage girls. The current statistic is that 130 babies are born to teenage girls each day in Texas. How ignorant some Texans must be to prevent schools from giving sex education in 50% of their schools and closing 50 Planned Parenthood clinics. Do these people have any idea what they are doing to the babies and their mothers? A baby born to a teenage mother may also then become a teenage mother and many will be on welfare for the rest of their lives. Not only is there a terrible cost to the girls and their babies, but the cost to tax payers in Texas will be enormous. I have cared for pregnant teenagers and also given many sex education talks. I was always surprised at how little the girls knew about how babies were conceived and most had no idea of what the future would hold for them if they became pregnant. Marian Wright Edelman of the Children's Defense Fund is often quoted as saying that these girls "have written their life script" by becoming pregnant.
Another problem with teenage girls becoming pregnant is that their diet is usually bad and they also don't get adequate medical care or take vitamins. Thus the incidence of disabilities is higher than in other age groups. Once again society will pay a high price, as will the girls. I hope that pediatricians and family doctors in Texas will band together and protest the closure of the clinics and the lack of sex education in the schools.
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