Well, I think I'm going to bow out now, not over hard feelings or anything, I've just got chores and errands to run and need to get on with life. :)

Well, you're right that endorse isn't the right word here, I'm trying to get other chores done here and typed that pretty quickly. But, collecting taxes or giving tax breaks is still governtment involvement.

See, this is great. A not for profit, all volunteer organization, endorsed by the government (monetary donations are tax deductable), and babies lives are being saved. I'd jump on this bandwagon anyday.

Well, I guess in a nutshell, I see it as a two seperate issues. First there's the individual issue. I agree, I think my children are my responsibility. To carry them to term, to raise them in a nurturing, stable home. To oversee their education. To provide them with medical care. When it comes to what really should be private, individual responsibilies I do agree with you. But when we start talking about legalities, then we are no longer talking about individual rights. We are talking about what the government says. If the government is going to dictate what I can or can't do, then the government better have some responsibility in the consequences of those laws. We outlaw stealing, and we have a process to deal with people who steal. If the government is going to outlaw abortion, then we can jail every woman who has an abortion, and every doctor who performs them. Now...on a personal level, I would prefer a government to me more proactive and not so much reactive. I think it's better to help prevent a crime than it is to punish a crime. No, we're never going to stop every act of injustice in America. But I would argue that it's better to try. IF the government is going to outlaw abortion, then they should have programs offering help, adoption programs, childcare help, postpartem depression help, whatever. I'm sure many people here are going to start srceaming socialism, and their right. I'd prefer non government options like the many Peek listed to help mothers in need. But we just can't ignore the governments responsibilities when we use the government. (I hope I'm making sense. It sounds right in my head because I understand what I'm trying to say. ;)) If we're going to take the responsibility to vote for antiabortion laws, then we also are taking responsibility for voting for those consequences. The consequences can be either good or bad, but we have to own them. Now, as far a charity goes, it is no ones responsibility to perform charitable acts for any person or cause. That's why it's charity, helping someone because we want to, not because we have to.

I do. I did a few years ago more than I do now, mainly out of laziness. My favorite company to use is Nature's Sunshine. I love, love, love them. :)

Personally, I would love to see adoption as a more viable option. I haven't read past your current post, but just because someone is pro-choice does not mean they are pro-abortion. Part of MY concern is if we outlaw abortion then we as a society will just say "problem solved." Having abortion move back underground does not solve the problem. Trust me, I can name plenty of reasons why not to have an abortion.

Oh, that story about makes me cry, for both what the girl had to endure, and the help she received.

I don't see the question as a red herring at all. Many of us (myself anyway) that vote pro-choice might be willing to take a closer look at voting pro-life if we knew there were programs in place that offered help to both the mother and the child with the end goal in mind of helping the mother become a self sufficiant member of this society, regardless if they were offered by the government, private organizations, or charity. I think if we as a society pass laws telling us what to do, it is very irresponsible to do so without considering and trying to negate the negative consequences of said laws. And trust me, being someone who grew up receiving social security checks and free school lunches and basically living off government support, it's much less costly to help someone be self sufficient than having them be a permanent financial drain on society. For the stealing analogy, yes we do pay for it. We pay for it with high prices in the store which helps cover the costs of the stolen merchandise. We also pay with our taxes to put the criminals in jails, the upkeep of the jails, for their lawyers, etc.

Well, I'm not a moderator, so discuss away. :lol: I was just enjoying this thread as it was causing me to do some internal examination about how I'd handle that situation, and I think internal examinations are good for the soul. ;) As much as I wish we could discuss a wider range of topics on these forums, emotions do tend to run high on certain topics and things get out of hand. But, your right, as long as it is just a discussion then have at it. :D

Please please please please please don't turn this into an abortion topic and get this thread closed down. I think we can agree that opinions probably wont be changed, and even though I have gotten into the abortion and other political topics on these boards before, this particular thread was really making me to think how I would deal with a teen pregnancy. There was a lot of food for thought here and I'd like to see it continue. Anyway...back to the OP. With my dd, I would absolutely help her out. I'd consider her job going to school. Having her drop out would in no way prepare her to take care of her baby in the long run. I'm already a SAHM, so staying home while she went to school would be fine by me. Although I must say it was intersting that in all my mental planning I was assuming she'd be in public school. Duh...we homeschool, and currently plan to during highschool, so that really wouldn't be an issue for us. Although as most others mentioned, she wouldn't be participating in extra curric regardless. I think if she were homeschooled then it would be easier to get a job and not feel like she was leaving her baby all the time. That's what kept going through my head...how do teen moms go to school, work, and take care of baby without help? I'm kinda agreeing with the "no party" idea. At least to some degree. My sister got pregnant at 17. Yes, at first my mom freaked out, but then tried to do what she could to be supportive of my sister. (My mom was pro-life so the topic of abortion never came into play.) She had a small baby shower, helped get things ready as much as she could. (She was a quadriplegic so it was mostly giving advice type of stuff.) Within a year of getting pregnant, both her best friends got pregnant on purpose. They though it would be fun to be moms together. I wouldn't mind a show of support from older women type of thing, but I disagree with glamorizing teen pregnancy. Now...if my son got a girl pregnant and she kept the baby...most of the same rules would apply. He'd have to at least offer to watch the baby to help the mother out. Since I know we would have little control over the mom's decisions, it's harder to speculate, but he'd be stepping up as much as he needs to. He'd have to drop out of all extra currics as well and work as much as possible to help support that baby.

well, right now they are 11 and 13, but pretty soon they will be 12 and 14. Like I said, I haven't been that consistant with cursive, and when they were younger a lot of the classical method just didn't "click" with me. I wish I'd done more narrations and copywork, but it's a little too late for that. (A little advice: if SWB says to do something, just do it. So many things that she recommended I didn't do and wish I had.) I would like to have all 180 passages typed up, printed, and bound into a book so each day they can just turn the page and have their next passage all ready. I was just looking for an easy resource, but the above posts have inspired me to be a little more creative. I went ahead and purchased Living Memory. I remember when it first came out and all the hupla (is that a word?) on these boards about it, so I figure it'll be a good resource regardless. I like the wikipedia idea. Now I'm thinking maybe for each week I can have one poetry selection, one lit selection, one paragraph about something interesting in history, and maybe one for science. Maybe one Bible quote could take up the last day.

thanks guys!