The Supreme Court builiding is pictured below in a June 21, 2019 photo.
Few Abortions Involve Moms Under Age 15
First of all, while pro-choice persons emphasize cases like this 10-year-old girl’s situation, abortions (and pregnancies) are rare among young children. Only 0.2% of abortions in 2019 involved persons under age 15 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[2]
The 0.2% figure means that only 1 out of every 500 abortions involved a mother under age 15. Most of those children were likely teenagers ages 13-14, not 10-year-olds.
Seek to Prevent and Report Sexual Abuse
Secondly, ideally, all pregnancies among children would be prevented. If the child doesn’t get pregnant, neither abortion nor an unwanted child come about.
Teaching the importance of sexual abstinence to children, and getting them to quickly report cases of sexual abuse to a trusted adult could go a long way toward achieving this.
Voluntary sexual activity of children with peers is harmful and needs to be prevented. Rape and sexual abuse of children by adults and older children is a terrible tragedy.
Plan B Is an Alternative
For those rare cases when a young child is raped, Plan B or the morning-after pill, is still legal despite the United States Supreme Court ruling, as reported by USA Today[3] and numerous other news sources. It is effective taken within three days after intercourse.
But the child needs to quickly report the rape to a responsible, trusted adult to obtain treatment. Understandably, this isn’t always easy, especially if the guilty party is an adult relative and the child is young.
Obviously, preventing abuse of children is key and eliminates the pregnancies and the desire for abortions. If ardent pro-choice (and pro-life) individuals focused as much on sexual abstinence, sex education, and creating a safe environment for children to report abuse, as they do on abortion, we might virtually eliminate child pregnancies.
Young Moms, Even a 5-Year-Old Who Gave Birth
Young children who become pregnant, elect to carry their unborn child to term, and give birth, do face more health risks than older mothers. Children’s babies face higher health risks than those born to older moms too. But quality prenatal care reduces the risks for both moms and babies.
Many young children do give birth safely to healthy babies. LiveScience [4] reported in 2011 that “twelve-year-old mothers aren’t unusual in some parts of the world.”
Indeed, the mental and emotional health risks are probably greater than the physical ones to young moms. Most young mothers physically give birth safely, especially if they get good prenatal care.
But children typically are not mentally, emotionally, and financially able to be parents. It would be unfair to expect them to be.
Preventing rape and sexual abuse are keys. Furthermore, since it isn’t reasonable to expect a child to be a parent, adoption is the best choice for babies of children.
The youngest verified age of giving birth is that of Lina Medina, as reported by numerous news sources. She was only 5 years old when she gave birth in May 1939. Wow!
She went through precocious puberty (early puberty), was raped, and gave birth via Cesarean section. You can read more about her case in Time,[5] The Sun,[6] WomenintheWorld.org,[7] and numerous other news sources. Snopes.com[8] verified her story as true.
Prevent Unwanted Pregnancies
I’m not a medical professional, so I can’t give any medical advice. But regarding abortion, I think our number one goal is to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Even pro-choice persons prefer avoiding the pain, expense, and health risk of an abortion.
In cases where undesired pregnancies occur, carrying the baby to term and then giving it up for adoption is a wonderful option.
Safely Dropping Off Unwanted Newborns
Safe Haven Baby Boxes[9] “staffs a 24-hour hotline (1-866-99BABY1)” that persons can phone about “safely surrendering their baby.” As a last resort, they also have drop-off boxes in many locations where moms can “safely, securely, and anonymously surrender” their newborn baby. According to the website the boxes are in the exterior walls of certain fire stations and hospitals.
All fifty states have safe haven laws to encourage dropping off newborns at a safe place according to information on ChildWelfare.gov,[10] and other sources. The website ChildWelfare.gov[10] provides details, including information about what are considered safe locations in various states.
Abortion Is Just a Symptom of the Underlying Problem
Abortion is just a symptom of the underlying problem of selfish sexual lust. Pro-life persons, including me, typically don’t just support life for the unborn baby.
We also usually advocate eliminating the underlying problems of selfish sexual promiscuity, supporting quality prenatal care, and making adoption available as an option for parents unable to care for a newborn child.
Closing Thoughts
Relatively few young children become pregnant. But there are still far too many. Personally, I think even age 15-19 is too young to take on the mental, emotional, and spiritual task of parenting in most cases. We need to do a better job of preventing such sexual intercourse, whether consensual with peers or not.
But in cases where a young person becomes pregnant, I think it is wrong to compound the problem by murdering the unborn baby. Many young moms choose life voluntarily. Making quality prenatal care available, including counseling and support for sexual abuse victims, is important and can help make life better for moms and babies, as can adoption.
The physical health risks young moms face are greater than those of moms a few years older, but they pale compared to the mental, emotional, and spiritual problems faced by pregnant children. Let’s all seek to unite to help prevent children’s pregnancies, and when they occur to help the children and their unborn babies cope effectively. Do you agree?
ENDNOTES:
[1] Rudavsky, Shari and Fradette, Rachel; “As Ohio restricts abortions, 10-year-old girl travels to Indiana for procedure”; accessed on The Columbus Dispatch website (though the byline states the writers are with the Indianapolis Star); July 1, 2022; updated July 5, 2022; webpage accessed July 6, 2022; https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2022/07/01/ohio-girl-10-among-patients-going-indiana-abortion/7788415001/
[2] Kortsmit, Katherine, PhD; Mandel, Michele G.; Reeves, Jennifer A., MD; Clark, Elizabeth, MD; Pagano, H. Pamela, DrPH; Nguyen, Antoinette, MD; Petersen, Emily E., MD; Maura K. Whiteman, PhD; “Abortion Surveillance—United States, 2019; Morbidity and Mortality Report, Surveillance Summaries/November 26, 2021/70(9):1-29; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website; webpage accessed July 6, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/ss/ss7009a1.htm#T3_down
[3] Grantham-Philips, Wyatte; “Can I still Buy Plan B? Where can I get it? What to know after SCOTUS overturns Roe v. Wade”; USA Today; June 25, 2022; webpage accessed July 6, 2022; https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2022/06/24/plan-b-what-you-need-know/7567434001/
[4] “What’s the Youngest Age at Which a Woman Can Give Birth?”; LiveScience.com; March 30, 2011; webpage accessed July 6, 2022; https://www.livescience.com/33170-youngest-age-give-birth-pregnancy.html
[5] “Little Mother”; Time, May 29, 1939, No. 22, pages 57-58; webpage accessed July 6, 2022; https://time.com/vault/issue/1939-05-29/page/57/
[6] Hodge, Mark; “Child Mother: Harrowing Story of youngest mum ever who was just 5 & had to have c-section as she was too small to give birth”; The Sun; November 7, 2021, updated November 8, 2021; webpage accessed July 6, 2022; https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/16552270/youngest-mum-ever-lina-medina-peru/
[7] Bhavya; “Lina Medina: The Youngest Mother in the World”; Women in the World; January 6, 2022; webpage accessed July 6, 2022; https://womenintheworld.org/lina-medina-the-youngest-mother-in-the-world/
[8] Mikkelson, David; “Was the World’s Youngest Mother Only 5 Years Old?”; Snopes.com; July 21, 2004; webpage accessed July 6, 2022; https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/youngest-mother/
[9] “Safe Haven Baby Boxes”; Safe Haven Baby Boxes; webpage accessed July 6, 2022; https://shbb.org/
[10] “Infant Safe Haven Laws”; webpage accessed July 7, 2022; https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/safehaven.pdf
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