Measure Would Pay Teen-Age Girls Not to Become Pregnant

Teen-age girls who have been pregnant could be paid $1 a day not to get pregnant again under legislation approved Thursday in the state Assembly and sent to an uncertain fate in the Senate.

The measure, by Assemblyman Bruce Bronzan (D-Fresno), would create three pilot programs around the state modeled after a project now under way in San Mateo County.

To study the concept, each of the three programs would enroll 10 to 12 girls who became pregnant at least once before they turned 16 years old.

The girls would attend weekly classes designed to stimulate feelings of camaraderie, commitment and self-esteem and to help them avoid getting pregnant again, according to an Assembly analysis of the measure.

The girls would be paid $1 a day as long as they attended the classes and did not get pregnant. They could remain in the program for two years or until their 18th birthday.

Bronzan said the idea could save hundreds of millions of dollars now spent on welfare and medical care for teen-age mothers and their children. In 1985, taxpayers spent $3.08 billion supporting families begun when the mother was a teen-ager, according to a University of California study.

Bronzan said the classes also would help the girls remain in school. Studies have shown that teen-age mothers are less likely than other girls to complete high school.

“For the first time in their lives for a lot of these young girls, they get some concept of goals for themselves and the commitment it takes to reach those goals,” Bronzan said. “The cost of doing all that is incredibly cheap.”

The program would cost $37,500 the first year. The state Office of Family Planning would administer the program, and the classes would be run by local agencies under contract with the state.

In a similar program in Colorado, 83% of the girls enrolled did not get pregnant again, and none of the teens who entered the program in 1988 have gotten pregnant again, Bronzan said. Figures for the San Mateo program were not available Thursday.

Nationally, between 33% and 53% of girls who get pregnant as teen-agers have a repeat pregnancy within two years.

The Assembly passed the bill on a 55-19 vote, with Republicans casting all 19 votes in opposition.

“It sends a mixed message,” said Assemblyman Tim Leslie (R-Carmichael), who voted against the bill. “We would be telling young people that we’ll pay you not to do something that you shouldn’t be doing anyway.”