TEEN PREGNANCY: What a Grotesque Obscenity

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - I don’t remember exactly where I heard about this (my dementia) but I decided to look it up. You just can’t believe what is on the computer. I think I had heard that 40% of American births were by unmarried girls/women aged 18 – 24 with some younger. It kind of reminds me of the old saw, “In the spring a young mans fancy lightly turns to what the girls have been thinking about all the rest of the year”.

At any rate, I have written about sexual matters several times before for Salem-News.com.

The youngest MOTHER was five years and 7 months old. She was Lina Medina of Peru in 1939. The baby and she were brought up as sisters. The worlds most famous teenage mother was Mary, mother of Jesus. She was between 13 and 15 years old. A logical person must discount the Immaculate Conception theory.

Other teenage mothers were Hildegarde, the wife of Charlemagne, she was 14. The mother of Henry VII was 13. Maria, the wife of Ivan the Great of Russia was 16. Empress Temei of Japan was 16 when she gave birth to Hirohito. I’m not even going to write about Appalachian hillbillies.

During my medical internship I delivered a child to a mother of 14 and when I started medical practice one patient was barely 15 when her mother brought her in for a positive pregnancy test.

I wrote a letter to my local newspaper which was printed on the front page “I’M SICK AND DISGUSTED WITH 14 YEAR OLD PREGNANT GIRLS, WHY DON’T WE HAVE SAFE SEX EDUCATION?” It didn’t make a bit of difference. We had several more in the next years.

The economic cost of teenage pregnancies is enormous in the face of the fact that the U.S. has the highest teenage birth rate in the developed world, 55.6 per 1000 women 15-19 years old. Poverty is one of the most common associations for teenage pregnancy and it gets worse from there.

Many girls drop out of school and are cursed with menial jobs with minimal pay. They have no skills except for sex which is barely marketable. About 60% of these teenagers are impoverished at time of birth and it gets worse. It probably costs the mother and society about one million dollars in lost earning plus federal or state financial support for these girls.

Even the child is cursed with the same impoverishment. Developmental disabilities are high in these babies adding to the social and economic costs. The girl babies are more likely to become teenage mothers and sons of these mothers are 3 times more likely to end up in prison.

Whether Sex Education actually helps this phenomenon is problematic. Schools which advocate “abstinence only” education are a dismal failure, “virginity pledges” are very popular. Studies and reports indicate that 88% of the girls have sex anyway.

However girls are maturing sexually much earlier, about 12 years old. It appears that the economic privation of the teenage mothers rarely enters their education. It seems that some religious groups think that if sex education isn’t talked about sexual activity won’t occur.

Before any of that, Phil Leveque was a Combat Infantryman in the U.S. Army in WWII. He suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder more than 60 years after the war, and specialized in treating Veterans with PTSD during his years as a doctor in Molalla, Oregon.
Do you have a question, comment or story to share with Dr. Leveque?
Email him: ASK DR. LEVEQUE

More information on the history of Dr. Leveque can be found in his book, General Patton's Dogface Soldier of WWII about his own experiences "from a foxhole". Order the book by mail by following this link: DOGFACE SOLDIER OF WWII If you are a World War II history buff, you don't want to miss it.

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incest births are global problem May 3, 2011 5:47 am (Pacific time)

http://www.examiner.com/international-headlines-in-national/10-year-old-romanian-girl-gives-birth-spain-where-consensual-incest-is-legal

Currently, France, Portugal, and Spain are the three countries in the European Union that do not prosecute consensual incest.

Some proponents say that "it's no one's business what consenting family members do in the bedroom". Opponents point to the lack of morals, and how the act corrupts the institution of family.

In Romania this offense can be prosecuted rather severely, with a penalty of up to seven years in prison. There's an effort to drop the stigma in Romania by moving more towards solidarity because they joined the union 2 years ago. This could be why the girl's mother brought her to Spain to give birth to her baby.

This could also be why she said pregnancy of underage children is not uncommon.

Since Spain will not jail offenders of consensual incest, perhaps the Romanian family were there to escape prosecution in their own country.

teen's babies disabled by incest May 3, 2011 6:45 am (Pacific time)

Dr. Leveque mentions:"Developmental disabilities are high in these babies (born to teen mothers) adding to the social and economic costs" There may be a 'reason', other than the age of the mothers for such disabling phenomena at a higher rate among infants of teen moms. The true number of teen pregnancies in the U.S. caused by incest is under-documented. This fact makes stereotyping of pregnant teen mothers being promiscuous, or uneducated about birth control become questionable. A recent article [http://abcnews.go.com/Health/genenic-tests-reveal-incestuous-family-history/story?id=12889895andsinglePage=true ] discusses the issue of disabilities in children born to teen mothers. "Children of first-degree relatives face a risk of disability up to 50 percent higher than that of children born to unrelated moms and dads, Beaudet said. No one has good estimates on the prevalence of children born from incestuous relationships." "It used to be in the past that occasionally we would be suspicious, or occasionally a child would be brought in, and social services would be involved and tell us," about incestuous parentage, said Beaudet, a pediatrician also trained in genetics. "But now we see a child where we don't suspect that, and the lab result comes back and says … this child is the product of mating between two very closely related individuals." "Even with genetic evidence that a child's mother and father are biologically related, "you can't tell from the test definitively who the biological father is," McGuire said. "If there's multiple first-degree relatives, you wouldn't be able to discern whether it was dad, or a brother. That's what makes it difficult to develop general, definitive practice guidelines." ""Mostly we're dealing with young girls in the home who are probably being sexually abused by their father," Beaudet said in an interview. "They're carrying the babies to term, and they're probably being told that if they tell anyone about anything, they'll be harmed or injured. "It's not so unusual to have a girl have two or three children with her father," Beaudet said. "If you discover the first one, there's some potential to stop the second one." He cited one case in which "there were at least three and maybe four girls who were having multiple children with their father. He was in and out of jail. The children were showing up at genetics clinics for obvious reasons." Beaudet and his colleagues decided to go public to discourage, if not stop incest. "Maybe the people who are the offenders are not amenable to the kind of education we'd like to get out, but ... if this happens and there's a child born, it may well uncover this and get the offender in trouble." "Spinner cautioned that mothers and fathers can share large amounts of DNA without their relationship being incestuous. "You can have people who are pretty related, but it doesn't mean it's incest per se. Some populations get so inbred, you can have double-first-cousin marriages." Therefore, it's crucial to first review the findings "and make sure you're comfortable that this could really be incest."

global problem May 3, 2011 6:13 am (Pacific time)

From Human Rights Watch. "Second Assault" regarding Mexico. "Mexico’s legal framework for the treatment of domestic and sexual violence in many states is seriously deficient. Seven states do not penalize domestic violence specifically, and seventeen states only sanction “repeated” violence in the family. In thirteen states, intercourse with a minor through seduction (so-called estupro) is only criminal if the minor was “chaste” or “honest,” and in eleven states “estupro” is not penalized if the perpetrator subsequently marries the underage victim. Incest is defined as “consensual” sex between parents and children or between siblings. Since incest, by this definition, is a crime against the family, and not against the physical integrity of the child, underage incest victims are penalized at the same level as their parents or older siblings. Pregnant victims of incest and “estupro” are also, by law, denied the right to a legal abortion. The criminalization of children’s sexual behavior—even where they may be victims of abuse—is the more troubling because of a generally low age of consent in Mexico. In two jurisdictions, children are considered capable of consenting to sexual relationships once they reach puberty with no age specified."

unspoken truths May 3, 2011 5:56 am (Pacific time)

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2011/04/father_admits_incest_with_12ye.php

what men have to do with it May 3, 2011 5:49 am (Pacific time)

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20002931-504083.html In Missouri: Rinehart's 20-year-old daughter sobbed uncontrollably on the stand Monday as she told the jury how her father began molesting her at age five and impregnated her four times, the first when she was 14.

incest births are global problem May 3, 2011 5:47 am (Pacific time)

http://www.examiner.com/international-headlines-in-national/10-year-old-romanian-girl-gives-birth-spain-where-consensual-incest-is-legal Currently, France, Portugal, and Spain are the three countries in the European Union that do not prosecute consensual incest. Some proponents say that "it's no one's business what consenting family members do in the bedroom". Opponents point to the lack of morals, and how the act corrupts the institution of family. In Romania this offense can be prosecuted rather severely, with a penalty of up to seven years in prison. There's an effort to drop the stigma in Romania by moving more towards solidarity because they joined the union 2 years ago. This could be why the girl's mother brought her to Spain to give birth to her baby. This could also be why she said pregnancy of underage children is not uncommon. Since Spain will not jail offenders of consensual incest, perhaps the Romanian family were there to escape prosecution in their own country.

what men have to do with it May 3, 2011 5:41 am (Pacific time)

www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/11/26/2429684.htm

what men have to do with it May 3, 2011 5:40 am (Pacific time)

http://www.theprovince.com/life/years+jail+fathered+children+with+year+daughter/4688488/story.html

ignored while birthing in jail April 29, 2011 2:45 pm (Pacific time)

Police arrested Pope for investigation of criminal trespass on Nov. 15, 1997, when she was found sleeping in a Metro bus shelter. Upon her arrival at the jail, "it was immediately apparent that she was suffering from a mental illness," the suit says, because of her "illogical and disorganized thought processes" and inability to communicate.

The next day, jail health staff administered a psychiatric assessment and found "evidence of mental illness," the suit says.

But even after she told jail health staff and guards she was going into labor, "no one entered Ms. Pope's cell to check on her welfare, and no medical care was provided," the suit says. "Consequently, Ms. Pope gave birth to her son alone in her cell with no medical attention."

The trespassing charge was dismissed because Pope was found not competent to stand trial, Carney said.

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/Woman-sues-county-over-giving-birth-in-jail-1243770.php#ixzz1KwznloAq

Vic April 29, 2011 10:54 am (Pacific time)

¨"Notislamic"..are you referring to the Bible, which in the old Testament, tells the Isrealites to kill everything in their path and if they come on a pregnant woman to cut the baby out of her belly and¨"dash it against a rock"? Or are you talking about whe Bible where it says that disobedient children are to be stoned to death ?? And you may be ignorant of this, but plenty of 13 year olds are raped in America. Hypocrisy is a cheap suit that looks good on no one, especially Christians who somehow overlook the God sanctioned genocide, infanticide, rape, incest and murder in¨"The Holy Bible".

Anonymous April 28, 2011 2:28 pm (Pacific time)

It's called acting responsibly! How come the vast majority don't have this situation occur? It would be very realistic to start offering a huge payday for those who chose to get sterilized. Maybe that sounds callous to some, but look at the data, ranging from societal costs from school, welfare, crime rates. To give some a check for say $100,000, less or a bit more, would be a bargain for society.

Poor girls April 28, 2011 10:34 am (Pacific time)

Isn't it ironic? The "moral" folks out there: 1. Don't want their kids to be taught sex in school. 2. Don't want their kids to be taught about pregnancy prevention. 3. Don't believe their kids will have sex out of marriage (even though they did). 4. Don't want their daughters to have abortion as a personal choice. 5. Don't want young single mothers to be on welfare or food stamps, or to have access to health care for her children. But hey, they sure don't mind having sex, getting women pregnant, or denigrating them for attempting to make responsible decisions. What a horrible bunch of mentors girls have out there. Men really should care more, instead of it being "us against the world". The discrimination will never end.

Not Islamic April 27, 2011 4:21 pm (Pacific time)

Well at least we aren't raping our 13 year olds and bashing newborns against the rocks in accordance with our most holy text like some other cultures approve of out there...

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TEEN PREGNANCY: What a Grotesque Obscenity

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