Want to Be on TV?

The Bill Cunningham Show premieres this fall on TV stations nationwide; the 60-minute talk show will be topically driven. The show is currently putting together a show on teen pregnancy and seeks teen girls who were recently pregnant or who are trying to get pregnant and who are willing to appear on national television. If you know anyone who might be interested in sharing their story, please send an email to nyctalkguest@gmail.com. Please visit www.thebillcunninghamshow.com for more information.

The High Cost of Unintended Pregnancy

A new research brief from the Brookings Institution's Adam Thomas and Emily Monea details the high costs of unintended pregnancy. Among their findings:

• Taxpayers spend about $12 billion annually on publicly financed medical care for women who experience unintended pregnancies and on infants who were conceived unintentionally.
• Taxpayers could save an estimated $6 billion if all unintended pregnancies could be prevented.

Read the full brief here

North Carolina House Approves Choose Life License Plates

by Steven Ertelt | Charlotte, NC | LifeNews.com | 6/8/11 11:20 AM

The North Carolina state House yesterday approved legislation to allow motorists in the Tar Heel State to purchase Choose Life license plates to adorn their vehicles and spread a pro-life, pro-adoption message.

The House voted 70-44 to authorize dozens of new specialty plates, including the Choose Life plate, that require an extra $25 fee to purchase — with $15 going to pregnancy centers that provide women with abortion alternatives for each plate sold in the state.

According to an AP report, Carteret County Republican Rep. Pat McElraft told legislators the plates will raise money for Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship and “save some babies lives.” However, some Democrats opposed the measure because they didn’t want licence plates becoming a forum for debate on abortion.

AP indicates the House rejected a pro-abortion amendment Democrats brought that would have added a “Respect Choice” license plate benefiting the pro-abortion side.

Last year, Bobbie Meyer, the state director of Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship, told LifeNews: “North Carolina is the only state in the southeast that refuses to let its citizens purchase the choose life license plate. For eight years the legislation for the choose life plate has been denied a vote even though more than 130 other plates have been approved.”

“The choose life license plate has already raised over 12 million dollars in the states that allow them thereby helping mothers and their families,” she added. “Here in NC there are 85 pregnancy care centers who last year saw over 46,000 women and children.”

Despite popular support for the plate, Planned Parenthood officials strongly oppose it.

“These license plates are specialty plates that bear an anti-choice message,” the group said an email LifeNews.com obtained asking its members to urge legislators to vote no.

Planned Parenthood complained that the funds from the plate will go to pregnancy centers that provide women with real choices and tangible help in an unplanned pregnancy. As the abortion business claimed, the centers “promise comprehensive medical advice and services but deliver anti-choice propaganda.” Planned Parenthood also complained it would be ineligible to receive funds because it does abortions while the plate’s goals are to promote adoption and helping women in crisis pregnancies.

The approval of the Choose Life plate comes after significant hard work from pro-life groups in the state, including North Carolina Right to Life and North Carolina Pro-Life Democrats.

The Tar Heel State is home to over 100 specialized license plates promoting everything from Save the Sea Turtle to NASCAR driver Greg Biffle. The Choose Life tag was tied up in the Transportation Committee for five years and now, residents may be closer to having tags available.

Ultimately, the Choose Life plates across the nation have raised over $8.7 million and over 400,000 plates have been sold or renewed in the 17 states that currently have the plate available.

NC Right to Life, the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Charlotte and Raleigh, NC Baptist Association, Russ Amerling, National Director of Choose Life license plates, The Family Policy Council of NC, Civitas NC, The Christian Action League, and NC Pro-Life Democrats all support the plates. There are currently 80 pregnancy centers across the Tar Heel State that served more than 46,000 women, men and families last year.

Brevard graphic artist Deborah Vernon Scott designed the proposed North Carolina plate, which depicts mountains and waves separated by two children’s faces on a yellow background. The phrase “Choose Life” is emblazoned in red at top.

ACTION: Tell your legislators to support the plate by going to http://www.ncga.state.nc.us

Option Line

I get calls all the time from people looking for resources for family/friends experiencing unplanned pregnancies. The Option Line (http://www.optionline.org/) provides great information which you can share.

What can friends do?

It’s nerve-racking to figure out the right thing to do or to say when your friend is facing an unplanned pregnancy. But the most meaningful way you can support her is simply to be there.

• Listen.
• Keep calm.
• Suggest help.

Let your friend speak when she wants, and calmly listen. She will be grateful for an open ear as she processes her emotions and the difficult choices ahead of her.

You, however, might rapidly feel overwhelmed if you’re her only resource. The Option Line is available any time, day or night. They offer free, caring and confidential help and can quickly connect your friend to the local assistance she needs.

It’s nerve-racking to figure out the right thing to do or to say when your friend is facing an unplanned pregnancy. But the most meaningful way you can support her is simply to be there.

Divine Disconnect: Should Faith Leaders Be Talking to Their Congregations About Sex?

May 16 2011

Last month, the Guttmacher Institute released a report (PDF) showing that contraceptive use among religious women is in fact a norm and that three-quarters of never-married women are sexually experience by their early twenties, regardless of religious affiliation. Some other key findings included the following:

• Among all women who have had sex, 99% have ever used a contraceptive method other than natural family planning. This figure is virtually the same among Catholic women (98%).
• Only 2% of Catholic women rely on natural family planning; this is true even among Catholic women who attend church once a month or more.
• Among never-married adolescent women, 42% have ever had sex. While levels of sexual experience vary somewhat across the three main religious groups, these differences are not statistically significant.
• Among never-married young adult women, 79% are sexually experienced. Evangelicals are less likely than Catholics or Mainline Protestants to have ever had sex (75% vs. 89% and 86%, respectively).

This study once again highlights the disconnect between traditional religious teachings and beliefs and an individual's actual behavior. Not only is the proportion of religious, never-been-married women with sexual experience very similar to the proportion of the overall population, but these women are also using contraception regardless of whether or not their religion accepts it. This implies that the topics of contraception and sexuality should not be excluded from religious settings and conversations.

The question about the role of religious institutions and faith leaders when it comes to this issue has been the subject of much discussion, for example in a Washington Post op-ed written last month by The National Campaign's CEO Sarah Brown. Should faith leaders be a primary source of this type of information for their congregation? How do they make that decision when many Church hierarchies continue to denounce the use of contraception other than natural family planning? There is also the problem that many faith leaders are unaware of what proportion of their congregation that's unmarried is sexually active, since that type of discussion is typically not encouraged in a faith setting. Because of this, when reports like this one are released with statistics showing high rates of sexual activity and contraceptive use among religious women, some faith leaders assume that this must not be the case in their church simply since they don't hear about it. So the question is, how do we go about getting faith leaders and religious institutions to connect the dots and realize that what statistics are showing probably represents the young people who are sitting right in front of them?

A recent article in Neue magazine (link below) features several stories about why it is critical for religious organizations to start addressing unplanned pregnancies, abortion, and family planning. It also touches upon the shame factor that goes along with being a sexually active yet religious young adult and often deters these young people from seeking needed advice or counsel from their faith leaders. Particularly for this reason, faith leaders should strive to create a welcoming environment that encourages members of the congregation to feel comfortable addressing topics typically stigmatized in religious settings. A great example of this, featured in the article, is Pastor Dharius Daniels of Kingdom Church in Ewing, NJ. Pastor Daniels has begun offering "Ask Me Anything" forums, where youth and young adults can come and literally ask him any question they have--most of which, he says, so far have been sex-related. He talks about how this has been an eye-opening experience for him and has really allowed him to get into his congregation's heads and helped him to better address their needs.

I think this effort to close the divide between one's own perceptions and what statistics are showing is critical in making progress in this area. Faith leaders are in a position with incredible influence and by encouraging open conversations and increasing the trust that exists in the leader-congregation relationship, they can help many youth and young adults get the information they want and need. To read more examples of what members of the faith community are saying and what you could do to help, check out the Neue article for yourself: "True Love Isn't Waiting."

Posted by: Sara Major

©2011, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy
1776 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036
ph: (202) 478-8507. fax: (202) 478-8588. CFC #10496