This blog doesn't need to be all Kardashian all the time, but it's worth noting in this space that not only is Kourtney Kardashian talking about her unplanned pregnancy, she is also talking about ambivalence and abortion - both incredibly common in these situations but both incredibly absent from most Hollywood baby bump coverage.

I don't know a whole lot about Kourtney - I don't watch her show and I'm not sure what sort of extraordinary things she's done to deserve a show - but what she told People magazine makes her sound like a normal person and not a creation of publicists:

"I definitely thought about it long and hard, about if I wanted to keep the baby or not, and I wasn't thinking about adoption."

"For me, all the reasons why I wouldn't keep the baby were so selfish: It wasn't like I was raped, it's not like I'm 16. I'm 30 years old, I make my own money, I support myself, I can afford to have a baby. And I am with someone who I love, and have been with for a long time."

That a "celebrity" would give voice to those feelings and ideas is refreshing because that's what we hear so often from regular people who live far outside the spotlight.

Less refreshing is what her doctor told her when she sought medical counsel about what to do: "My doctor told me there is nothing you will ever regret about having the baby, but he was like, 'You may regret not having the baby.' And I was like: That is so true."

One would hope that a physician would have a more balanced opinion about terminating an unplanned (and perhaps unwanted) pregnancy, but let's hope for the baby's sake the doctor was right this time.

Over the weekend I was able to catch the national tour of the eight-time Tony Award winning production, Spring Awakening, based on a German play written over 100 years ago by Frank Wedekind.

Before I got tickets, the only thing I really knew about this musical was that Duncan Sheik, arguably most famous for his '90s hit, Barely Breathing, composed the music. Given where I work, I'm surprised I didn't realize earlier that among the show's primary themes--which are depicted with graphic scenes and explicit language--are teen sexuality, sex, and pregnancy.

Sheik brought a modern twist to the production through its pop music, but the "mature" themes were there from the beginning. That's right. In the 1890's, adolescents were curious about, and exploring, their sexuality. These days (some) teens express that side of themselves using cell phones. Back then, apparently, they were passing handwritten and hand drawn notes to explain sex to one another and to plan forbidden rendezvous.

Another central theme of Spring Awakening is parent-child communication (or lack thereof). Realizing that this is still something we still struggle with today--especially when it comes to sex--the producers of the musical created a parent's portal so that adults could decide whether it's appropriate for them to bring their children to the show. The site has letters from parents and video testimonials from both parents and teens who have watched the show together. They state repeatedly what a great opportunity this show provided for them to talk about sex. I wish they had provided discussion guides to help out even more with those conversations, as we do for a number of TV shows about teens and sex, but at least they're trying to encourage dialogue. 

So if this show is passing through your town soon, grab a ticket and take your teen. It's understandable if some of the scenes make you uncomfortable, especially if you're there with your child. So sit across the theater from each other if you must. Just be sure to talk about what you saw after it's over.

RH Reality Check today launches a new section devoted to the ongoing search for common ground on abortion and related issues. The On Common Ground section will be moderated by author, commentator, and all-around good egg Cristina Page. Cristina has long been a keen observer and chronicler of the ongoing culture wars over abortion and various efforts to reach common ground.

National Campaign CEO Sarah Brown will be a regular contributor to the Common Ground site along with others including the very thoughtful Rachel Laser of Third Way.

Read Sarah's initial contribution to the common ground discussion and marvel as I did as she seamlessly weaves together a narrative involving Barbie dolls, Cleopatra, family planning, and common ground.

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

I come to praise Sarah Palin, not to bury her. 

As part of her post-election media tour, Governor Palin appeared on CNN's Larry "Older Than Moses" King Show.  When asked about her pregnant teenage daughter Bristol,  Palin had this to say:

"You know, I looked at her and thought---and I thought, Bristol, honey, you're going to have to grow up really fast...She's going to make a great mom.  And she---she is very strong.  She's going to be just fine.   

But Bristol has an opportunity at this point also to reach out to other young American women and let them know that these are absolutely less than ideal circumstances that she or any other unwed teenage mother are in.  And it is not something to glamorize.  It's not something to condone, if you will.  Bristol has an opportunity to reach out to other young mothers and help them and, hopefully, not see such a prevalence, also, of unwed teenage mothers.  The rates are too high." 

Although we all might quibble with the exact language the Governor used --- and I'm sure most of us wish she had made this sort of statement earlier in the Campaign (see this op-ed from our friend Saul Hoffman) --- nonetheless, this strikes me as a strong and important statement from a leading R.

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

According to a report released last Tuesday by the Guttmacher Institute, the number of abortions in the U.S. has continued to decline steadily since 1990. This decline has been the most dramatic among teen girls (younger than age 20). In fact, between 1989 and 2004, the abortion rate among teen girls decreased 53% (compared to 26% overall).

The proportion of abortions obtained by teen girls also dropped dramatically during the last three decades while the proportion of abortions to women age 20-24 has remained at roughly one-third since 1974. Furthermore, the majority of all abortions (57%) occur to women in their twenties. At the same time, 60% of all abortions occur to women who have already had at least one child.

Clearly unplanned pregnancy is not just a teen problem.

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."

Terrifically important new research from our friends at the Guttmacher Institute on unplanned pregnancy.  From the press release:

"Publicly funded family planning clinics provide contraceptive services to approximately seven million women each year. Without these services, the annual number of unintended pregnancies and abortions in the United States would be almost 50% higher. In other words, 1.4 million unintended pregnancies and 600,000 abortions are averted each year because of these services... 

In addition to the clear benefits for individual women and their families in helping them avoid the pregnancies they do not want and plan the pregnancies they do, the analysis finds that these services save $4.3 billion in public funds. Nationally, for every $1.00 spent to provide services in the nationwide network of publicly funded family planning clinics, $4.02 in Medicaid expenses on births are averted."

Read the full report here and press release here.

Starr went to the clinic on Friday to have an abortion.  She's 16 and the situation is pretty bad.  She went by herself and despite putting on a brave face, she was terrified.  She can't have an abortion in Pennsylvania (where she lives) without her parents knowing so she rode a bike to the bus station and took the bus to a clinic in New Jersey.  Her parents don't even know she's had sex and they certainly don't know she's pregnant.  They've already forbidden her from seeing her boyfriend and her father even threatened to kill him.  As it turns out, she didn't go through with the abortion after all.  Moments before the procedure was to begin, her boyfriend showed up at the clinic...

Pretty dramatic stuff, huh?

Well it should be--it's a soap opera.  But "One Life to Live" is dealing with some very real-life issues in the story of 16-year-old Starr Manning's pregnancy.  And one thing that's been made quite clear to Starr, and by extension to her fans, is that once there's an unplanned pregnancy, none of the options are easy.