LUMBERTON – No one seems to know why Robeson County’s 2002 teen abortion rate is lower than the state average – a rate that is especially puzzling in light of the county having the state’s third-highest teen pregnancy rate.
In 2002, the most recent year the figures are available, Robeson County teens had abortions at a rate of 11.6 abortions per 1,000 girls in the 15 to 19 age group. The state average is 14.6.
Bill Smith, Robeson County’s health director, has often wondered about the county’s traditionally low abortion rate.
“It’s an anomaly that’s been there since I started working here,” Smith said. “I don’t know if it’s because of religion or the lack of stigma associated with teens having children – kids aren’t ashamed of being pregnant, so they don’t worry about ending the pregnancy. I really don’t know the answer.”
Notice the health director’s attitude. He automatically thinks that the teen pregnancy rate should result in a higher abortion rate.
A social worker at the Robeson County Department of Social Services – who wished to remain anonymous – said she believes religion is a contributing factor to the low abortion rate.
“They may not practice religion, but those beliefs have been handed down through their families,” she said.
And she said that it’s usually the parent, not the child, who requests information on abortions.
“When the kids find out they’re pregnant, they want to keep the baby in almost all cases I’ve seen,” she said. “It’s the parents who want to know about an abortion.”
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This is even a sadder fact that the parent’s are the one requesting information on abortion. I can understand the pressure on a teenager in this culture and the lack of knowledge concerning fetal development. Yet the parent’s attitude is more frightening. Some kind of parent wish fulfillment on their children where they want nothing to interfere with a career. No barriers especially babies need interfere with that dream. The parent’s should be the one’s helping their child and doing everything they can by supporting their daughters. I think it is especially heinous for grandparents to want their grandchildren killed.
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I think it’s generational, too. My own mother was a product of the sixties. I’ll never forget the horror I felt when she told me and my then-boyfriend, “If you get pregnant, be prepared for an abortion. I’m not raising any little bastards. Don’t play Grown-up unless you’re prepared to be grown-up.” My boyfriend and I (who were NOT having sex) were mortified.