Anita Hill Denounces ‘Cruel’ Welfare Cuts : Politics: In rare public speech, Oklahoma law professor says proposed reforms will not reduce teen pregnancies.

In her first public appearance since moving to Orange County, law professor Anita Hill told members of Planned Parenthood on Thursday that she believes welfare reform would not reduce teen-age pregnancies and that cutting aid to teen mothers is “shortsighted.”

Hill, who gained national attention during the confirmation process for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in 1991 when she charged that Thomas had sexually harassed her, said that a national conservative movement promoting cutbacks in services to young mothers would not address the underlying issues causing teen pregnancies.

“The political discussion about teen-age pregnancy focuses on cuts and disincentives--not methods that actually work to reduce teen-age pregnancy,” Hill said before about 500 people at a $60-a-plate fund-raising luncheon at the Four Seasons Hotel.

She proposed that educational efforts, instead, would improve girls’ self-esteem and prompt them to avoid pregnancy.

Hill, who lives in Laguna Beach and is writing two books while on leave from the University of Oklahoma, sparked a vigorous national debate about attitudes women face in the workplace when she accused Thomas of harassment.

On Thursday, she did not discuss the Thomas hearings but warned the audience that she continues to hold strong views on equity for women and girls. “I’ve been known to be provocative before,” she said with a smile that drew laughs from the crowd, “even when I don’t try to be.”

Hill stuck to the theme of teen pregnancy during the talk, presented at a luncheon for Planned Parenthood’s Education 2000 group, which gives youth pregnancy prevention presentations at schools and clubs.

She did not directly attack conservative lawmakers who have favored trimming the federal budget through measures such as denying cash benefits to unwed mothers younger than 18. But she said that such measures are “cruel” if they try to coerce young women away from having children while not giving them any sense of purpose, goals or a future.

“With only negative disincentives to childbirth, it’s a likely result that we will see other manifestations of despair” among low-income women, Hill said, listing crime and mental health problems as possible outcomes.

She also criticized those who try to prevent girls from getting pregnant by making them feel guilty and immoral.

“We’ve gone back to using shame . . . saying pregnancy is morally reprehensible” for teen-agers, she said. She insisted that doesn’t work for most adolescents.

Jon Dunn, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino counties, said something must be done about teen-age pregnancy because its incidence has risen.

“We need to create a situation where girls have access to role models and mentors,” Dunn said. “Their choices are very limited.”