Piece 2: Letter to the Editor in Response to Charles Murray

There is no question that virtually every social problem facing our nation—in his words, "crime, drugs, poverty, illiteracy, welfare, [and] homelessness"—is vastly exacer­bated by the epidemic of unintended and unwanted births. But Mr. Murray's assessment of the roots of the problem and his proposed solutions are dangerously off course.

Mr. Murray begins with the patronizing and treacherous premise that out-of-wedlock births happen because "boys like to sleep with girls and ... girls think babies are endear­ing." He ends with a call to restore "economic penalties land] severe social stigma" on sin­gle parents. Along the way, he makes clear that by "single parents," he really means single mothers—suggesting that women spontaneously generate not only babies, but poverty itself.

In sum, Mr. Murray wants to pull the plug on our nation's most vulnerable women and children. Every tub on its own bottom, he says: Able mothers will eke out a subsistence without government help; and as for the others, well, let's just cart their children off to "lav­ishly [funded] orphanages." This is a grotesque vision. First, it maligns the many single mothers who are doing all they can to achieve independence. Worse, it's a prescription for disaster. Already, 360,000 children languish in a child welfare system plagued by funding shortages, inadequate facilities and staffing crises. Mr. Murray's plan would crush this over­burdened system, leaving more and more babies to be abandoned in alleys, Dumpsters, andpublic restrooms.

Here are some real solutions to the epidemic of teen pregnancy and its attendant cycle of hopelessness: America must provide universal access to comprehensive sexuality educa­tion and confidential, affordable contraception. We must make safe, legal abortion available to all women, with federal and state funding for those who need it. We must raise our ex­pectations of young men, making them equal partners in preventing unintended pregnancy and in caring for the children they father; as U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders has said, "There is more to being a father than providing the sperm."

Above all, we must equip our young people with self-esteem and hope—through decent education, better job opportunities, and meaningful life options. In short, we must givethem a future worth protecting.

Pamela J. Maraldo, Ph.D., R.N.

President, Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Date: 2015-02-03; view: 795