Teen Pregnancy

(Name Calling & Abortion)

Fr. Bloom,
Abortion for me is a topic that sits close to heart. I will be 18 in a few months, and my age group of young women seems to be the section that suffers a great deal from unplanned pregnancies that often result in abortion.
I don't at this point in time know what my feelings are on whether abortion is right or wrong. I may never know unless I have to suffer through an unplanned pregnancy. But I do know I feel disgust when I witness persons ridicule someone in this situation.
Throughout my years of school I have seen girls come and go with the burden of an unplanned pregnancy. I've seen the ridicule they go through, the name calling, the nasty notes, the sudden disappearance of friends and the disrespect from teachers that let their religion and personal views distract them from what is supposed to be an equal education for all. I, myself, would not feel comfortable forcing someone, a young girl, to go through that simply because I feel abortion is a sin. I have difficulty believing that a person that has never experienced an unplanned pregnancy and the terror that ensues knows what this person is going through. I am angered when I hear people call them sluts, or whores, and tell them they will burn in hell due to their transgressions. Millions of young, unmarried people have sex and do not get pregnant. It is my belief that much of the anger and blame people place on pregnant teens is due to their feelings of guilt and inadequacy brought on by the fact that we as a society have failed to guide children and help them grow. There is something very wrong with a country that has 1 million pregnant teens each year. We strike out at those we see with swollen stomachs because we can PROVE they had sex (unless this is a state brought on by a rape which in itself is an entire different topic) and when we strike out at them we feel we are striking at the entire mass of the problem. But we're not. We are berating an individual, a young girl alone, or a young couple, that are scared, confused, and many times don't know where to turn. For many, abortion is the answer. I think they look at it as a way to escape; to erase the past. Many feel abortion is disgusting, and that it is murder. Some have even gone as far to raid clinics and commit even more grotesque acts of violence. Yet, as a country, we don't make it easy on a young girl to carry a baby to term. Many pregnant teens are treated as social pariahs. I find it hard to blame these young women to try and find a way to end this suffering. Abortion seems to be quicker than going through this for nearly one year. After the act, some can forget and move on, some can't. But what is important to remember, is many times, behind that label of, "that girl that had the abortion", there is a human being, that to a true person of God, is just as precious as the life they feel was erased.
Sincerely,
Carly W.

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Dear Carly,

Thank you for your letter. I heartily agree with most of what you say. I would go a step further and say this: There is a name for someone who would berate a pregnant girl (call her a "slut" or anything else). Since this is a Catholic website, I will not use the word but it refers to a necessary part of the human anatomy. The same word applies to someone who labels a girl who has had an abortion.

You mention the attacks on abortion clinics. I assume you know they represent a very tiny percentage of abortion protesters. On several occasions I have been with groups praying in front of abortion clinics. There were no derogatory signs, no shouts at anyone who entered or exited. We did offer informational material about what abortion is and the common emotional and spiritual after effects. What is wrong with that? I have talked with many young women who really did not realize the full implications of aborting her baby.

Our goal is not only to save the child, but the mother--and those involved in providing abortions. Each one has an infinite worth because each has an eternal destiny. Abortion is a grave sin and it hardens many people's hearts against God. But God wants to break thru that. The Father wants his prodigal sons (and daughters) to return to him. He is waiting to embrace the child who returns.

God bless you, Carly. My prayers.

Fr. Phil Bloom

P.S. Carly, I hope you never have to face such a terrible decision. You know the very best way. Do not give yourself to a man until you have a total lifelong commitment (Christian marriage).

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The Pro-Choice Argument

Post Abortion Healing

Interview on Birth Control

Human Cloning: A Catholic Perspective (How the Unthinkable Became Inevitable)

Mary Bloom Center for Natural Family Planning

Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Birth Control (by Protestants Against Birth Control)

The Preacher and the Pill (How the Church and feminism gave a woman control of her body)

Artificial birth control as a major root cause of poverty: Keynote Address to St. Vincent de Paul Regional Gathering, May 16, 1997.

What Every Catholic Couple Should Know

For more on the struggle between dissent and orthodoxy see my review of Flawed Expectations.

Why Humanae Vitae Was Right An excellent book on the Birth Control Debate edited by Dr. Janet Smith

Review of Why Humanae Vitae Was Right

A clear and concise Summary of Church Teaching on Contraception

Chemical Abortions (Interview with Dr. Thomas Hilgers, M.D.)

To plan or postpone pregnancy: Billings Method

Cukierski Family Apostolate
"Not Your Mother's Birth Control"

Infertile and Catholic: Help for Catholic couples who have been unable to have children.

The Moral Difference between NFP and Birth Control. (Response to letter from Ken Stuart.)

He Approached the Victim: "It's much more likely one of your relatives will lose his life by surgical abortion than by heart attack."

Surviving as a Catholic Family (Archbishop Charles Chaput reflects on the difference between Birth Control and Natural Family Planning)

Stem Cell Research: Teaching of Bible & Catholic Church

Germaine Greer on Birth Control

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