How has the Abortion Culture Affected Today's Youth?

From LifeDate - Spring 2006.

How has the Abortion Culture Affected Today’s Youth?
by Grace Kern, Director of Word of Hope

After 33 years, abortion has had a phenomenal impact on our youth. Are they better off because of the U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision? Abortion advocates claim that it is all about “pro-choice.” But sadly, many young women come to Word of Hope saying they felt they had no choice. Their parents wanted them to get an abortion, or their boyfriends pressured them to get an abortion. Instead of freeing women from male exploitation, abortion has made them more vulnerable—playing into the hands of men who seek sex without marriage.

Columnist Jeff Jacoby discusses abortion’s impact on relationships:

“It has corrupted romance and sexuality . . . before Roe, the price of an unwanted pregnancy could be terrifyingly high. That gave unmarried women a powerful incentive to reserve themselves for men whom they planned to marry; they knew to wait for marriage. But after Roe, an unwanted pregnancy became little more than a nuisance. To undo it, you had only to see an abortionist. So why be careful? Why hold back? There was no longer a need to wait for that walk down the aisle—or even for commitment . . . For men who wanted sex without strings, without having to make promises, without having to go through the rituals of romance, Roe was great. And if she has a baby? Hey, that’s her problem. She could have gotten an abortion.”

Before Roe v. Wade, fear and respect motivated people to make responsible sexual choices. But the abortion culture has divided sex from procreation, and people stopped being responsible for the consequences of their actions. Our youth have grown up hearing phrases like “abortion on demand” and “the right to abortion.” They have heard nice adults talk about supporting politicians who will “protect” these “rights.” Such talk has left many of these children confused, so deeply that they do not even know they are confused, and morally dulled.

Everyday, more and more children are poisoned by the media and our sex-crazed culture. Many of our young people have lost their respect for God, family, and human life. They’ve lost their own self-respect, and do not even know the meaning of true love. The culture has filled their heads with the idea that human life is not special, is not a life formed by God, but is just a fertilized ovum that can be removed when it suits them. The abortion culture forces young men to reject their role as provider and protector, and encourages both men and women to act against their instincts, destroying what they should most vehemently defend—their own children.

The abortion culture is forcing sex education programs in our schools whether parents want it or not. These so-called “sex education” programs are brainwashing our youth. They don’t talk to kids about chastity or marriage. Rather, they tell them that they cannot control themselves and so they must “protect” themselves from pregnancy. They are being taught to use contraception for a false sense of “protection” and ultimately to use abortion as a backup to all this selfish behavior.

How can we protect our youth? How can we help pro-life youth share and defend the life message?

College students and teens are on the forefront of the abortion debate. More than 50 percent of the over 1.3 million annual abortions are performed on women college-age or younger. Through organized groups and informal discussions in classrooms, dorms, and libraries, pro-life students can bring the message of life to their peers. When pro-life students talk to their peers, it may represent the first time they have been exposed to our “pro-life” perspective, or at least it may be the first time they have heard our position without the filter of pro-abortion bias.

We need to equip pro-life students with the knowledge, tools, and skills to effectively educate their peers and to reach out to their friends who may be considering abortion.

This generation must be determined to voice the truth of Life—to protect all human life from conception until natural death, with no exceptions, no compromise, and no apologies. We must stand on the truth that Jesus is our strength. We cannot sit silently as another generation is killed.

“Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it (John 1:3-5).” NIV