d nineteen. This number astonishes me. Teenage girls should be experiencing life and all it has to offer, not changing diapers and heating baby bottles. At least if they are planning to be sexually active, they should use some form of contraception, not only for themselves, but to protect the innocent child that might enter the world. I do not think that a young teenage year old girl is ready to take on the responsibilities that women usually take on at around twenty -- six or twenty -- seven. A child needs to be clothed, sheltered, loved and protected. How can a young girl provide all these things when she is still in need of them herself?In San Francisco, the aim is to prevent sexually active teenagers before the first baby arrives. In 1967, the citys Planned Parenthood Association -- which came from Margaret Sangers American Birth Control League -- opened a Teen Clinic. This was due to the numerous requests from teenagers for sex education and contraception. It meets twice a week after school hours. In the first two years, more than six hundred girls participated in the group discussions. Among them, seventy -- five needed pregnancy testing and counseling, while a total of four hundred and seventy-six girls received contraceptive advice and services. During these two years there were only ten unplanned pregnancies. Slowly, but surely, many people are realizing that birth control is an effective way to ensure that there are no unwanted pregnancies. In 1961, the National Council of Churches in the United States, proclaimed that birth control to limit family size should be permitted. The method chosen by a couple was declared to be their own decision. Also, it is no secret that unwanted children seldom receive the necessary love and care. For this reason many people maintain that it should be a womans sole decision if and when she wants to bear children. Many different religions are eventually coming to terms with contracepti...
