BABIES HAVING BABIES:A NATIONAL CRISIS IN AMERICA OF TODAY"

Teenagers are biologically not fully developed to carry pregnancies comfortably without the possibility of physical and medical complications in most cases. The United States constitution does not consider teenagers to be adults, who should be mentally, physically, emotionally ready with the basic, moral and the legal responsibilities that go with the life of an adult. But today in America, teenage pregnancy has become a national crisis that cannot be swept under the carpet, but must be addressed in a timely manner in order to avoid a national crisis.

According to the report from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. About 4 out of 10 girls in the United States will get pregnant by age 20, about one million of them each year. Most will say they did not use protection because they weren't planning to have sex. This report further said that the explosion of out-of-wedlock teen births is a crisis that threatens to undermine our nation's family systems and values. Each year, 175,000 give birth to their first child. As a result, the United States now has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the Western World.

The serious consequences of teenage pregnancy if unabated can be very devastating on the teen mothers, the babies that are born by these young mother, the American taxpayers in particular and the entire society in general. Teenage pregnancy does not allow teens to fully enjoy their childhood and to be ready for a productive adulthood later in life. Teenage mothers are less likely to complete their high schools, less likely to be married in the future, and most likely to depend on the welfare system, or live a life of poverty or likely end up in the prison systems periodically or on a lifetime basis.

The price that we pay as American taxpayers is enormous because of teen pregnancy. The data from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy revealed the dollar amount that tax payers pay yearly. The report says that "the teen pregnancy crisis costs taxpayers an estimated $6.9 billion in lost tax revenues and increased spending on public assistance, health care, foster care and the criminal justice system. As a nation, we can no longer afford the consequences of teen pregnancy".

Based on the report from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, some 560,000 teenage girls give birth each year. Almost one-sixth of all U.S. births are to teenage women.
Babies born to young teen mothers have a higher risk of serious health problems.
Physical and mental birth defects affect many babies born to very young women. The high rate of teenagers having babies is a national health and social problem that demands attention.

This impending national crisis cannot be overlooked in this 21st if we want to avoid a major national catastrophe in America. All hands must be on deck to solve this national problem in a timely manner. Our teenagers are our hope and our future as a nation. We need them to become successful adults, parents and leaders in the new decade and not as teenage mothers.