"My Kid Is Pregnant. What Does HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt Have to Say About This?"
NARAL finds what it calls "politically biased information" on the Department of Health and Human Services website for parents, 4parents.gov:
Some teen mothers decide to continue their pregnancy and then choose adoption for their baby. Adoption may be the best choice for the baby and the teen parents. There are many adoption agencies and types of adoption…
Some teen pregnancies end in abortion. Abortions can have complications. There may be emotional consequences, as well: some women say that they feel sad and some use more alcohol or drugs than before.
No doubt true! The site's primary function seems to be baiting groups like NARAL, and I doubt there are legions of worried parents seeking advice from a Cabinet-level department on these matters. But given the almost limitless array of clauses that might have followed "some women say," it's telling that some HHS employee thought consumption of drugs and alcohol relevant to parents. That HHS bureaucrats assume the threat of teen alcohol consumption will factor into a parent's decision on whether to force a teen to carry a pregnancy to term–an option with a mortality rate many times that of surgical abortion–is pretty bizarre. Not necessarily wrong, given the depth of fear over Bacardi Breezer intake, but suggestive of some truly sorry priorities.
