Teen-Age Pregnancies

Your articles on teen-age pregnancy and abortion could not have come at a more opportune time, in light of the Reagan Administration’s request that the U.S. Supreme Court reverse its 1973 decision on abortion.

One glance at the statistics (only 4% of pregnant girls choose to give up their babies for adoption) should lay to rest the fallacy that abortion is unnecessary in a society where so many couples wait to adopt. As has been the case for centuries, a pregnant woman’s only true choices are abortion or motherhood.

Aside from the fact that many girls, and women, do not have the emotional maturity needed to raise a child, we must again look at statistics that show that teen-age mothers are more likely than their childless counterparts to drop out of high school, live below the poverty line, suffer severe medical problems and be dependent upon social services.

These are the hard, cold facts, coming at a time when the Reagan Administration has cut programs that aid the poor, uneducated, ill and dependent members of our society. How ironic and hypocritical that the very same Administration that wants to force women to bear their children also is working to eliminate the economic aid upon which these young mothers depend.

The steadily increasing rate of both teen-age pregnancies and abortion is undeniably tragic. But rather than reside in a fantasy world where birth-control methods work every time and only married adults engage in responsible sex, we must come to grips with the realities of our pleasure-seeking society.

We need to educate men and women alike about the moral and physical responsibilities of sex and develop better forms of birth control. But first we must address the underlying sociological issues that lead to increased teen-age sexuality, such as alienation, isolation and loneliness. In the interim, we must ensure that safe, legal, confidential and tax-funded abortions are available to women of all ages.

For once, can we avoid the simple solutions that don’t solve anything, the quick fixes that don’t really fix anything? Cannot reason, rather than emotion, finally prevail in this argument?

JOAN CONROW WOOLSON

San Diego