Jamie Lynn Spears announced this week that she is pregnant. She is sixteen. That's a tough situation to be in. I'm not positive what I would do if I was a sixteen year old who was pregnant, but there is no easy answer either way.
On our show, we took calls on this question and the viewers were split evenly and both sides had strong opinions, including as you'll see in the video below people who were sure you shouldn't keep it:
I think ultimately I would probably choose not to keep it, either. At 16 that drastically changes your life. It's easy to answer theoretically, but it's completely different when it's your life.
It's especially tougher on lower and middle class folks. I'm sure Jamie Lynn Spears has plenty of money since she is the sister of Britney Spears and has her own Nickelodeon show. So, it'll be a lot easier on her (she can hire eight nannies if she wants, most people don't have that luxury). But how is a normal 16 year old girl going to raise a kid and still go to high school and college, and then have a regular career? It's not that it can't be done, but it is exceedingly difficult and clearly changes your whole life.
I know some people consider all of this to be irrelevant because in their view a life is a life, no matter what. But I also know that a lot of people change that opinion real quick and in a hurry when it happens to them. Obviously, some don't. And I respect both decisions.
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Would You Have an Abortion If You Were in Jamie Lynn Spears' Situation?
Posted Dec 19th 2007 9:06PM by Cenk Uygur
Filed under: Young Turks, Celebrity, Abortion, Video
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 7)
1. An unplanned pregnancy, whether at age 16 or 35, means that the mother will either rise to the occasion or not. And if she does, the road ahead will be difficult regardless.
Babies do not come with owner's manuals and parenting is not an exact science. Ms. Spears has a good support system, and, presumably, money is not an issue. The father is also young, but hopefully he will rise to the occasion as well (sorry).
I applaud Jaime Spears for not killing her child, and I think that, if anything, is the lesson teenage girls will take from her pregnancy.
Mike at 8:57AM on Dec 20th 2007
2. By letting the world know that she was pregnaunt was stating that she would not abort. I think that it is a woman's choice and I hope it turns out good for all three of the ones that are involved.
Gail Sanders at 9:26AM on Dec 20th 2007
3. In your poll you ask keep the baby, not keep the baby, give up for adaption. Instead of not keep the baby why dont you ask the real question of keep the baby or kill the baby. Why is it we feel the need to surgar coat abortion. Tell it like it is.
To many people young and adult use abortion as a form of birth control and its wrong. I am adopted and so are both of my sons and it is a viable and good alternative to abortion and yes there are a lot of us out there who will love and raise these unwanted Children as our own. I and my sons are living proof.
Wake up America.
Bill Clark at 9:36AM on Dec 20th 2007
4. Mr. Uygur, I would like to go one further. Being that Ms. Spears is in her 12th week, if you were to have an ultrasound, which should be made law to assist with whatever "choice" you are going to make, and you were to see that little baby, or fetus as you liberals like to call them, moving comfortably in your womb, unless you have a heart of stone, and are a selfish, narcissistic individual, I guarantee you that you would surely not go on with the infamy that is abortion and would rather keep the baby and/or give him/her up for adoption, the latter option of which you did not mention in your statement. You say that your callers responses were fairly even, why then not also include a YouTube clip of the pro-life side. What gives you the right to say no and to kill the baby? We're you not also conceived at one point and only a glob of cells? You we're allowed to live. With that said, I'll break it down to why it is most fundamental, elementary and obvious that the position of choice is so hypocritical. I wasn't killed but others could be? That is just plain wrong.
paul lopez at 10:52AM on Dec 20th 2007
5. I think she is making the right decision. I also agree with Gail Sanders. If she had any intention of aborting I don't believe that she would have announced she was pregnant.
I wish her all the best, I know what its like, being a teen mom myself.
God Bless
Janna at 9:59AM on Dec 20th 2007
6. Bill - I applaud you for adopting your sons. I agree adoption is a loving thing to do - and the mother who surrenders her children to adoption is an unselfish person.
That said, you and I disagree about abortion. The majority of Americans prefer it remain legal - with restrictions. Most Americans don't like anything past first trimester abortions and most folks favor minors having consent from an adult. These are reasonable to me.
The amount of women using abortion as a "birth control method" is largely a myth and the numbers quite small, I am sure. Obviously, there is no way to measure this.
Reasonable people in this country do not want to drive women back to the days of back alley "doctors" (most were not) and using coat hangers and other objects on themselves.
Again, if the majority did not support abortion remaining legal, it would not be so.
David S. at 10:15AM on Dec 20th 2007
7. David S., do you have children? Is it ever reasonable or justified to kill a child? Is the mother's convenience more important than the child's life? Is "I am sure" now an acceptable statistic?
Denise at 10:24AM on Dec 20th 2007
8. Instead of not keep the baby why dont you ask the real question of keep the baby or kill the baby. Why is it we feel the need to surgar coat abortion.
________________
You make valid points in your post regarding adoption, however, you also have to realize that "killing" when referring to abortion is only an expression of your philosophical perception of when life begins and everyone is not going to agree with your definition, which is why, rather than "sugar coating" the term "abortion" accommodates different philosophies about the beginning of life. You may believe it takes place at conception, someone else may not consider it life until there is a heartbeat, maybe organs, maybe a functioning nervous system or brain waves. There is no scientific answer for when life begins, so much like religious beliefs, the issue depends on each individual, which is exactly why it has to remain a personal choice (and this is no endorsement of late term abortions, which are hardly ever the topic of controversy). In many cases the pro-life argument relies on beliefs regarding the "soul" of a human being or the potential of what might become of a cell, "human properties" if you will. These are the same beliefs that have pro-life groups speak out against cutting life support of comatose patients with no ability to breathe on their own, no brain waves etc. But if you don't believe in that philosophy, you have rights, too. If a life without thought, without breath or without a heartbeat isn't life to you, then why should you be accused of murder? Again, it comes down to respecting both sides and that said, I have yet to hear pro-lifers stand up against fertilization treatments, where multiple embryos are flushed down a sink as a result of each procedure. Are they saying that discarding of those embryos is okay because the end justifies the means? The way I see it, you can believe what you want, but be consistent and don't attack those who believe otherwise.
emma at 10:24AM on Dec 20th 2007
9. It would kill her career as a teenage star if she did get an abortion and it was found out by the press. However... keeping it and still staring as a teenager in highschool is also going to kill her career. She's screwed either way after getting screwed and screwing up birthcontrol.
RMWiersema at 10:29AM on Dec 20th 2007
10. That's a pretty good poll Cenk. Forty percent (40%) of your readers say kill the baby. Maybe John Kerry was right when he called our troops terrorist and baby killers.
But at least now we know why. John Kerry may have known that in The United States some Americans will kill their own baby at the drop of a hat.
A young woman gets pregnant, doesn't want it...kill it. That's one scary side of American culture.
Willet at 10:34AM on Dec 20th 2007
11. Denise #6 - whether or not I have children is irrelevant and none of your business. I feel my comment was respectful - unlike yours.
I suggest you read Emma's post above (#7) - she spells it out quite nicely. And she is correct. When the fetus is viable in the first few weeks of pregnancy is a philosophical debate, not a scientific one.
You obviously disagree - so be it. I am not going to change you nor you me.
David S. at 10:39AM on Dec 20th 2007
12. This is so very hard.
But this is how I think.
I believe every woman has the right to choose.
But it's not for me.
Heather at 10:41AM on Dec 20th 2007
13. Abortion supporters never cease to amaze me. This is how the life of a human being is decided in the United States of America.
"At 16 that drastically changes your life". Translation: If it affects or changes my personal life we better kill it. "But how is a normal 16 year old girl going to raise a kid and still go to high school and college, and then have a regular career?" Translation: After having sex and being impregnated by my adult boyfriend at the ripe age of 16 (is this statutory rape?), I still want everything to be normal going forward. Even if it means to kill this baby.
The truth is her life will never be the same again. Now the choices are to learn from er mistakes, start over and become a responsible human being or to add one more devastating mistake to a long string of errors and keep walking straight into the path of self-destruction.
Tony at 12:34PM on Dec 20th 2007
14. David S, I do not believe for a minute that Denise was being disrespectful. She was saying it like it is. As I stated previously. Is it not true David, that you and Emma, and ALL OF US for that matter, began our lives at the MOMENT OF CONCEPTION. What is so hard to digest about that. You could not have it any other way. HELLOOOOO!! Science proves that this is the precise moment that life begins and therefore, since you were given the privilege to live, you are not entitled to side with the position of abortion. It is 100% hypocritical. Is this what the past 1 1/2 generations have succumbed to. The point that we are less compassionate than animals, who seem to care way more for their off-spring. Abortion is a violation of the Natural law!
paul lopez at 11:06AM on Dec 20th 2007
15. 3. In your poll you ask keep the baby, not keep the baby, give up for adaption. Instead of not keep the baby why dont you ask the real question of keep the baby or kill the baby. Why is it we feel the need to surgar coat abortion. Tell it like it is.
To many people young and adult use abortion as a form of birth control and its wrong. I am adopted and so are both of my sons and it is a viable and good alternative to abortion and yes there are a lot of us out there who will love and raise these unwanted Children as our own. I and my sons are living proof.
Wake up America.
Bill Clark at 9:36AM on Dec 20th 2007
____________________
I hear what you are saying and I think it's wonderful that you were so blessed by your parents, and what you did with your sons is wonderful.
I am a very strong supporter of pro-choice and would not want our laws to change. This does not mean that being pro-choice means pro-abortions. Like you I find it appalling when people use abortions as a means of birth-control.
Having said that, you must realize that for the most part this is a very painful step for women to take, and do not take it likely.
Sex education in my opinion is needed in our schools, parents must speak with their children about safe sex. Because no matter, young people are going to do as they wish. As adults I belive it is our responsibility to teach our children about staying safe and thinking before acting, being responsible.
I personally belive that this young girl or any young girl at the tender age of 16 is not ready to become a mother. Not emotionally, intelectually, mature enough to handle a life time responsibility.
Patty at 11:09AM on Dec 20th 2007