No easy answers in Abilene's teen pregnancy debate
By Loretta Fulton
Saturday, September 13, 2008

By the numbers
Year Number of pregnancies Rate (per 1,000 females)

2003 155 35.8 (Texas rate 27.6)

2004 131 30.3 (Texas rate 26.6)

2005 120 27.9 (Texas rate 25.9)

Source: Texas Department of State Health Services Bureau of Vital Statistics

Abilene has plenty of similar faces.

"I kept thinking for the last 20 years I would work myself out of a job, but it hasn't worked out that way," said Georgiana Reagan, a program officer with the Abilene Independent School District's Early Headstart program who works with teen mothers.

During the past school year, 98 young women in the AISD reported being pregnant, according to school records.

In 2005, the latest year for which data was available, 120 teens in Taylor County ages 13-17 reported being pregnant, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Texas consistently has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the country and from 2004 to 2005, Taylor County's rates exceeded the state's.

No one seems to have "the" answer, but almost everyone has "an" answer for unwanted teen pregnancies.

As soon as statistics come into play, fingers start pointing. Much of the debate centers on whether abstinence-only sex education, such as that taught in Texas and Alaska public schools, is effective or whether more emphasis should be placed on the use of contraceptives.

Jamie Truitt believes abstinence-only sex education is the best. Janelle Strickler disagrees.

Truitt is the sexuality coordinator for AISD and teaches the abstinence-only curriculum. Strickler, 20, is a 2007 Cooper High School graduate, six-and-a-half months pregnant, and unmarried.

Truitt, the mother of three daughters, is comfortable with abstinence-only sex education, although she acknowledges that it may not be realistic.

"The truth is that's the healthiest choice," she said, both physically and emotionally.

In a perfect world, she said, "every kid would choose abstinence and wait until they marry to have sex, but I don't think that's reality."

Strickler, who was a 19-year-old college student when she became pregnant, can verify that "waiting until you're married" is not reality for many of today's teenagers. She recalled the sex education courses from her days as a student in Abilene schools.

"I remember a lot of abstinence," she said.

She also remembered a teacher telling students, "Sex isn't supposed to be fun."

She said she heard the same "don't do this" message at church and at home. That message, which a lot of youngsters receive, usually has a negative effect, she said.

"It made it seem like, 'Oh, maybe I should try this,'" she said.

A lot of kids think the same way and need to be taught about contraceptives and how to use them correctly, she said.

Unlike Bristol Palin, Strickler has chosen not to marry and will put her baby girl up for adoption through Christian Homes of Abilene, an agency she praises for its acceptance and support of unwed teens.

The abstinence-only sex education that Texas school children receive isn't a "head in the sand" approach as some opponents argue. From fifth through seventh grades, every student gets two weeks a year of sex education, plus a one-hour per year assembly put on by Aim for Success, a nonprofit abstinence-only organization whose programs are privately funded.

The curriculum used in AISD is locally written, Truitt said, but draws on two primary sources, Wait Training and Worth the Wait.

Age-appropriate material is presented each year, with contraceptives being the last component added in the seventh grade.

"We teach them what's out there," Truitt said, but teachers emphasize that abstinence is the best.

A point of contention with opponents of abstinence-only sex education is the material that is presented about contraceptives.

The emphasis is on the failure rate of contraceptives, said Marisol Espinosa, vice president of administrative affairs for Planned Parenthood West Texas, which has a clinic in Abilene.

The reality is that abstinence-only courses don't work, Espinosa said.

"Plain and simple, they don't reduce the number of teen pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases," she said.

Her statement is supported by a 10-year study conducted for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and released in April 2007. The study was conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., a nonpartisan firm with government and private clients.

According to Mathematica's news release, "A recent study of four abstinence education programs finds that the programs had no effect on the sexual abstinence of youth. But it also finds that youth in these programs were no more likely to have unprotected sex, a concern that has been raised by some critics of these programs."

Instead of focusing on abstinence-only sex education programs, agencies like Planned Parenthood preach "providing teenagers with medically accurate information," said Espinosa, with the West Texas office.

For young women like Bristol Palin and Abilene's Janelle Strickler, the debate is now largely academic. Reality has set in, and decisions must be made. Both young women decided against abortion.

One plans to marry the baby's father and raise the child. The other has chosen adoption. One thing everyone can agree on is that none of the choices is easy.

Strickler, who works full time and attends Cisco Junior College at night, gave much thought and prayer to her decision.

"I have no doubts I could do it on my own, but that's not the best for me or for my baby," she said. "Adoption is about love."

The adoption agency, Christian Homes of Abilene, was founded by the Churches of Christ but is not affiliated with the denomination now, said Sherri Statler, president and chief executive officer. The agency, with field offices in Tyler, Paris, the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Houston, is supported by several denominations that provide referrals and financial assistance.

The agency offers residential and community-based care for pregnant women who agree to give up their babies for adoption. Last year, 76 women sought the agency's assistance, Statler said. Of those, 22 were from the Abilene area. Christian Homes operates 36 apartments and provides its clients with free housing, food, clothing and health care.

Strickler chose to live in her parents' home but pays rent and other expenses. Strickler has come a long way in the past six months. She has gone from being a "freaked out" teenager to setting her life on a course toward success.

She plans to be a school principal someday and wants to get married and have children. Those factors weighed into her decision to put her baby up for adoption. She believes that raising a baby now by herself would not be good for her or the baby.

Strickler said she is not anti-abortion but neither does she think that should be the first choice. She says she is not "pro-life" but rather "pro-responsibility." And that is the message she would most like to pass on to other teenagers who find themselves in the same situation.

"If you're going to have sex, you have to be responsible," she said. "If you get pregnant, you have to be responsible."