Yesterday, a probably still-frozen-from-the-inauguration President Obama issued a statement on landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade One part of the brief speech especially caught my attention:

While this (abortion) is a sensitive and often divisive issue, no matter what our views, we are united in our determination to prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce the need for abortion, and support women and families in the choices they make. To accomplish these goals, we must work to find common ground to expand access to affordable contraception, accurate health information, and preventative services.

Working as a communications officer for an organization like The National Campaign means that I often find myself answering whether we (The Campaign) are pro- or anti- abortion. But what President Obama so eloquently stated and what this organization believes wholeheartedly, is that abortion isn't the issue. Instead, it's the need for abortion that should be center stage in this debate.

Whether you're pro-choice or pro-life, Republican or Democrat, take a moment to consider something...if men and women in this country were equipped with the knowledge and tools to prevent unplanned pregnancy, abortion as we know it would no longer exist—the demand would simply cease.

Just a thought....

Get more info on the statement and the discussion it has sparked:

• The full statement
• Politico
• CNN.com
• The Wall Street Journal

Previous Pregnant Pause Posts:

• Responsibility Rants
• "We Should Try to Reduce These Circumstances"
• Barack's 'Pregnant Pause

Newly sworn in President Obama spoke yesterday of personal responsibility and I hoped he might offer some examples as he had done when campaigning. A few were mentioned, but they tended towards the macro and institutional—understandable given the momentous occasion and the certain knowledge that there were millions of good souls in front of him who were, literally, freezing and had been standing in a huge sardine can for 6 hours or more (not that I am complaining). No time for long lists or numerous examples, eh?

So, to fill the gap: for those of us who worry about family structure and pregnancy planning and best beginnings, what might we say personal responsibility means? Here are four bits and pieces that I have been mulling over:

1. Unless both partners are in a committed relationship, are seeking pregnancy, and are willing to devote two decades and more to child-rearing, having sex without contraception or some attention to family planning is irresponsible.
   


2. It's irresponsible for doctors/nurses/clinics to fail to talk with women about all the effective contraceptive options available to them (and there are lots now).
   


3. When insurance/pharma prescription companies finance Viagra with minimal cost-sharing but get all weird and expensive when it comes to birth control, that's irresponsible.
   


4. Offering a sex education curriculum that does not include generous amounts of attention to respectful relationships and what types of family structures seem to benefit children the most is irresponsible.

I welcome additions....

Ahhh, 2008... What a year! In this season of "best of" lists and year-end retrospectives, I thought it would be a good time to pause, take a deep breath, and take a look back at some of our favorite videos from the last 365 days.

Why, it seems like just yesterday that we learned Jamie Lynn Spears was pregnant, but her baby, Maddie Briann, was born in June. When it came to names, my money was on "Misti Cheyanne." Close, but no cigar.

In May, the entire field of sex education took a great hit when 78-year-old sex educator and sex toy enthusiast Sue Johanson retired from her Oxygen television show, Talk Sex with Sue Johanson. She continues to tour universities, which is lucky for our young adult crowd as evidenced by the student-shot video below:

Seriously, when was the last time you saw a 78-year-old woman demonstrate how to apply a comdom with her mouth?  You will be missed on Sunday nights, Sue.

In November, Barack Obama -- the son of a teen mother -- was elected the nation's 44th president. Here's what President-elect Obama had to say about his historical achievement:

Check out more videos after the jump.

Like most Americans, I am profoundly moved by the election of Barack Obama. The reasons are numerous and I have little to add to the outpouring of eloquence within the U.S. and around the world. 

My modest addition is this: imagine our nation finding common ground centered on a simple thought: getting pregnant is one of the most important life events that occurs to any of us, with profound effects reaching into future generations.  It requires thought, care, support, communication and open discussion.  We need to develop better systems of education and services to support this critical decision and life stage, and we need to foster a deeper sense of personal responsibility attached to getting pregnant and raising families.  President-elect Obama has spoken to this combination of responsible policies and responsible behavior in general AND in relationship to the matters that concern us at this National Campaign.  I am luxuriating today in my hope that by the singular act of electing him President, America might be poised to make progress on "our" profoundly important, consequential issues.

Not to infringe on Joe the Plumber's 15 minutes of fame, but can we reflect for a minute on this response from Sen. Barack Obama during the third and final presidential debate when the issue abortion reared its head:

This is an issue that -- look, it divides us. And in some ways, it may be difficult to -- to reconcile the two views.

But there surely is some common ground when both those who believe in choice and those who are opposed to abortion can come together and say, "We should try to prevent unintended pregnancies by providing appropriate education to our youth, communicating that sexuality is sacred and that they should not be engaged in cavalier activity, and providing options for adoption, and helping single mothers if they want to choose to keep the baby.

Those are all things that we put in the Democratic platform for the first time this year, and I think that's where we can find some common ground, because nobody's pro-abortion. I think it's always a tragic situation.

We should try to reduce these circumstances.

Yes!  Reducing unintended pregnancy!  It's important!  Not just to the women and men who find themselves in situations where there's a pregnancy they weren't planning on, not just important to the children who are borne of these pregnancies and are forced to endure less than ideal conditions both in utero and throughout their lives, but important to a nation of taxpayers, voters, community members, aunts, uncles, grandparents, neighbors, classmates, colleagues and citizens who want this nation to be better, stronger, and populated by people who were wanted and welcomed from the get-go.

Kudos to Sen. Obama for looking for a way to find consensus on an issue known for its ability to divide us.

Now if the candidates would only talk about contraception...

For more questions we wish the candidates would address, please look here:  http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/policymakers/questions.aspx

We note the following from Barack Obama's speech last night:

"We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country."

And this:

"...we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents, that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework,that fathers must take more responsibility to provide love and guidance to their children."

Yesterday, on Father's Day appropriately, Senator Barack Obama addressed a congregation in Chicago about the importance of young men supporting their families and taking the responsibility to raise the children they have.  Suggesting that too many fathers are absent from their children's lives, the Democratic Presidential candidate said this:

"We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception. We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child -- it's the courage to raise one."

Might I suggest that what would be even more courageous would be rewinding the clock a bit, say nine months or so earlier? Responsibility, it seems to me, begins long before sex, pregnancy, and birth.  What makes you a man is having the courage to wait to become a father until he is really ready to raise a child.  For some that means not having sex at all; for many it means making sure you and your partner use condoms and birth control every single time.

Don't get me wrong; I think the Senator's thoughts about responsible fatherhood are right on target.  Where I grew up, a situation like mine--living with both mom and dad--made me a part of the "weird" family.  We usually ate dinner together, and my dad would come fetch me from doing ultra-cool things with my pre-teen friends to do so.  And research without question shows that kids generally do better when both parents are around.

But why is it that when it comes to male involvement and responsible fatherhood programs, there is so little focus on encouraging men to be responsible by preventing an unplanned pregnancy--before a child or even a pregnancy is involved?  While there are numerous attorneys general and child support enforcement officials all over the country doing great work to make sure men take responsibility for their actions and support the lives they helped create, I suspect their jobs would be a whole lot easier if we devoted more attention to making sure they don't become daddies in the first place.