Teenagers who become mothers have grim prospects for the future. They are much more likely to leave of school; receive inadequate prenatal care; rely on public assistance to raise a child; develop health problems; or end up divorced.
Teenagers who become mothers have grim prospects for the future. They are much more likely to leave school, receive inadequate prenatal care, rely on public assistance to raise a child, develop health problems, or end up divorced. Many of these young mothers are enticed into the “solution” of abortion. They are often told that terminating their pregnancy “will be better for you, your family, and for society in general.” Unfortunately, in a postmodern society that advocates an absence of moral absolutes (including the sanctity of all human life, including fetuses), this message is accepted at an alarming rate. In reality, however, pregnant teenagers have no right to abort their pregnancies.
Even in cases of rape, many medical centers offer drugs which, if taken quickly enough, will prevent impregnation without killing a fetus. Secondly, there are very few times per year (almost less than one-tenth, in many cases) during which a woman can become pregnant. Therefore, women who are raped are often morally responsible for choosing to place themselves in situations or places that result in their being raped or impregnated (since chances are slim that they can become pregnant “by accident”). In addition, despite a young woman’s degree of innocence behind her rape, it is unrighteous to slaughter an innocent, unborn child for the sin of its father. Other “justifiable” cases for abortion include pregnancies that could endanger the mother; often, these abortions are a three-day-long process. If such situations are really that crucial, then a doctor could save much more time by simply performing a Caesarean section in a matter of minutes. These arguments for abortion, then, are easily refuted by using logic instead of appealing to inconsistent emotions, such as pity for the “victims” society portrays these mothers as.
As for teenage mothers who choose to engage in activities that result in their impregnation, they have a moral obligation to avoid abortion. Sins receive penalties equal to their magnitude; for example, serial killers are often justly given “the death penalty” and executed. A teenage mother’s acquiescence to her carnal desires, therefore, reaps the consequence of impregnation. Even if these teenage mothers do turn to abortion, the act of killing their child does not erase their sin; rather, it only compounds it. These teenage mothers, in aborting their pregnancy, only doom themselves to a life of guilt that will jeopardize all of their later relationships.
While it may be true that teenage mothers must leave school early, such an academic fate is not surprising. The penalty of not being educated compensates for the irresponsibility with which teenage mothers acted when they decided to engage in intercourse. Now, the time that would have been spent preparing for their future must be spent paying for their moral frailty.
Although it is widely believed that teenage mothers receive inadequate prenatal care, this notion is not an absolute statement. Depending on a woman’s insurance policy, she could receive excellent prenatal care and medical treatment for her child. This gives some teenage mothers a good reason to keep their babies. Teenage mothers who do happen to receive poor prenatal care, however, can be reached by churches and Christians in the community around them. Hopefully, the love that they demonstrate will make a positive difference in the mother’s life, causing her to understand the sanctity of her baby’s life.
Teenage mothers must also rely heavily on public assistance to raise any children they have in their youth. Many doctors use this “your baby will be a societal burden” excuse as a reason to persuade teenage mothers to get an abortion. However, such mothers will feel grateful for public assistance, like welfare—even if they put extra strain on society. Likewise, this should teach them to view their baby as putting a similar strain on her body. Instead of using this as a reason to kill the fetus, the mother should logically liken the baby’s relationship to her body to her own dependent relationship with social programs of public assistance. In both cases, the mother and child are dependent on someone else for their well-being and security. If public assistance were to be completely taken away from the mother, both she and her child would suffer; why, then, should the mother take away her bodily support for the baby through abortion?
Teenage mothers have been said to develop health problems rather easily. Quite frankly, this is perfectly understandable and should be expected. I Corinthians 6:19 states that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, women whose bodies are defiled by sexual immorality must inevitably suffer physically. To allow one’s body to be misused is an insult to the Holy Spirit, whose temple has now been soiled. Since God and filth cannot coexist, health problems become a very real possibility for teenage mothers. Mothers who commit murder in this temple (abortion), should receive even higher consequences for their destruction of innocent life.
Sin is never private—it must inevitably be brought out into the light. Whether a teenage mother is raped or consciously (and carelessly) chose to participate in sexual immorality, the original perpetrator of the sin has infected both parties’ lives with corruption. This corruption becomes a kind of “baggage,” so to speak, on each person’s life—as mentioned before, this will go on to stain every future relationship each person is involved in, especially the mother. This is a significant factor in the numerous divorces that teenage mothers ultimately undergo. Also, teenage mothers who abort their baby must live with the guilt of the abortion, as well as the relationship problems just mentioned. They learn to live by emotionally punishing themselves with guilt, and by punishing other men for something they had no idea about.
Many teenage mothers do indeed have a very small chance of “getting ahead” in life once they find themselves with child. Whether or not they choose to keep the child may be their “civil right,” by society’s definition. However, in God’s sight, they have a moral obligation to respect the baby’s human right to life. Rather than fleeing the bodily and emotional stress of dealing with a child by turning to abortion, teenage mothers need to fear the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell (Matthew 10:28).
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