The Atlanta JournalConstitution on Wednesday published two opinion pieces related to preventing unintended pregnancies. Summaries appear below.


~ Cynthia Tucker Regardless of whom President Obama nominates to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter, social conservatives will try “to derail the nomination over one issue, Roe v. Wade,” Tucker, a JournalConstitution editorial page editor, writes in an opinion piece. Obama should use the spotlight that the nomination process will cast on abortionrights issues to “[f]ind partners for a highly public crusade to encourage contraception” and “challenge abortionrights opponents to join that crusade,” according to Tucker. She notes that while unintended pregnancies have been declining among higherincome women, there has been an increase among lowincome women, “who often find contraceptives expensive and difficult to obtain.” Tucker writes, “Its time for Americans to put our creativity and practicality to good use with a broad, privately funded campaign to encourage young women and young men to use readily available birth control methods,” adding that this is “something about which many of us, on both sides of Roe, ought to be able to agree on.” Although there “will always be hardcore Roe opponents who have no interest in making common cause” with abortionrights supporters, “among many Americans of more moderate views, there is broad support for a practical approach to curbing the abortion rate.” She concludes, “A highly visible campaign to encourage contraception (along with health care that makes birth control widely accessible) would certainly help” (Tucker, Atlanta JournalConstitution, 5/6).

~ Jane Fonda Issues of teenage pregnancy are “too often … described in moral terms, especially by politicians who seem to care more about getting headlines than admitting what does and doesnt work,” Jane Fonda, founder and chair of Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, writes in a JournalConstitution opinion piece. According to Fonda, “what is really immoral” is “leaving in place unrealistic ideas and ineffective programs that dont address” the seriousness of teen pregnancy and its impact. Fonda writes that exclusively focusing on abstinenceonly messages is “misguided” because such programs have been shown “repeatedly, and over time, to be ineffective.” She notes that in Georgia, where most schools teach abstinenceonly curricula, the teen pregnancy rate is the 10th highest in the country, and rates of sexually transmitted infections are “unacceptably high.” Fonda writes that her organization is working with coalitions of adults and youth to help “put into place the most effective and proven strategies to prevent teen pregnancy and ensure that our youth can envision productive futures” (Fonda, Atlanta JournalConstitution, 5/6).

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