Sex Education and Abortion

When it comes to battles in the "culture war" not only do opposing sides yell over each other so much so that listening becomes pointless amidst the noise, but folks have their set "talking points" so mastered in their heads that different options never are discussed or explored. The best and most frustrating example of this is in the abortion debate.

With the skyrocketing rate of teenage pregnancies in our culture, you would think cools heads would prevail in trying to find a solution in reducing pregnancies among teens and this in turn would reduce the number of abortions. But cool heads never seem to prevail in the culture war and therefore accusations are thrown around and both sides play the blame game about why both teen pregnancies and abortion continue to exist and in great numbers here in our nation.

On the one hand you have those who believe sex is a given among young people and if we only have greater sex education available for our teens than things will change for the better. They want abortion to remain available of course, feeling it is a woman's right to choose what she does with her body and her unborn child or fetus. On the other side you have those who wish to overturn Roe V. Wade, feel abortion is murder, and yet at the same time want to promote abstinence education in school so kids follow the "just say no" mantra that is uses in the drug debate.

I have an alternative solution that I think will tick both sides off and therefore I think it is the best we can hope for in a pluralistic society such as ours. I'll start off with the abortion question first. Aside from the notion of late term abortions which I think the overwhelming majority of Americans are against, I think it is unreasonable to think that making abortion illegal is going to happen. Roe v. Wade for better or worse is the law of the land and unless there is overwhelming support to ban abortion, I think those opposed to abortion should best concentrate their efforts on reducing abortions and lowering teen pregnancies.

For those who think that sex education is the way to go since kids are going to have sex anyways, I have this observation to make. Has it ever occurred to those who are liberal and conservative for that matter that kids can have sexual gratification without risking getting pregnant? Though not a philosophy I endorse necessarily, I am smart enough to know that teens and young Christian people for that matter engage in what used to be called "heavy petting." It wasn't that long ago that young men knew there were certain limits he had with a young lady and he was not supposed to go any further. Is this not a reasonable approach to have even in this day and age?

I, myself, prefer the idea of having my children have dates in public settings, double date etc, and avoid any form of sexual contact prior to marriage. This is the Christian view and I believe the best view. However I am a realist and I know that I can't expect those who may not be Christians to behave as Christians any more than I can expect a dog to start behaving as a cat. But since many in the culture war have no trouble preaching to kids about what may harm them; smoking, drugs, alcohol, etc. can we not agree that we should tell our children not to pursue the "most intimate level" of intimacy?

I think most people would reason that men have everything to gain and women have everything to lose in "going all the way." The cards are all in favor of the man and should we not put that all out there when discussing the repercussions of teen sex or sex outside of marriage in general? I would be perfectly comfortable in telling a young man that he is a selfish jerk if he pressures a young lady with the "if you really love me you will show me line nonsense." Young ladies, particularly teens who may not have the best relationships with their fathers or may have no fathers at all, understand the "biblical oneness" that comes with intercourse. Hence, how can one measure the harm a break up has on a girl who has permitted a boy to have her most intimate possession? Boys, unfortunately, are governed by their penises while young, and this in turn can harden (pardon the pun) them to the value of women and intimacy should they be permitted (with no societal sanction quite frankly) to get their rocks off with as many conquests as they can find.

Don't get me wrong. I am not endorsing oral sex or hand jobs for young people who are hot and horny. Still I know this exists and I know it has existed in cultures that were far less permissive than ours. I just hope that both sides in the culture war and abortion divide would endorse a" form of virginity" that would be much better for our youth and in turn would result in fewer teen pregnancies and abortions.