by Michael Bulmer

Created on: June 26, 2008

Did a group if high school girls enter a pact to get pregnant together? I believe that they did. The evidence available seems to point towards it being true.
The biggest piece of evidence to look at is the number of pregnancies. Its four times higher than last year. Doubling the pregnancies in one year is staggering enough. The number though suggests something beyond failing to use protection. It's hard to believe that there could be that many accidental pregnancies over the year before. No matter how you try to explain it, there would have to be an amazing set of circumstances to cause all of these girls to use contraception either improperly or not at all suddenly.

The story itself also lends clarity. It seems too incredible not to be true. For someone to come up with the story makes no sense. The ones who are telling the story are the ones who have the most to lose if it's true. They are the ones who had pushed for contraception being made available in schools without parental consent.
If the girls in question are all trying to get pregnant, then they aren't going to bother even using protection so what is the point of offering it? This would damage any argument they might be making, so there is little point in coming up with this story.
The thing to also consider is the people agreeing with the story. For Time magazine to make it up puts them in a terrible place to be. Beyond that though, you have to look at the fact that there is more than one person coming forward. You have the principal, superintendent, and the CEO of Pathway for Children. There is also another teen who was trying to talk the girls out of the pact. She had become pregnant at the age of 15, and apparently was part of the inspiration to have a baby.
The fact that some are suddenly saying it didn't happen, or there memory is foggy means nothing. At worst it suggests a cover up, and a desire to bury ones head in the sand and pretend it isn't happening. The mayor of the small town seems particularly insistent that the pact never happened. Even when first hearing about it, doubt was thrown onto it.
Now that sufficient time has gone by, it also makes sense that the girls involved will start denying the pact. Any of them are probably up to date enough to be able to go online and see what the general opinion is of them, and as anyone can tell, the opinion is not one of praise for there decision.
Some may argue that in the end it doesn't matter now, but nothing could be further from the truth. If a pact was made, it shows a serious inability to make important decisions, and see life long impacts from those decisions. The girls that are looking to become pregnant must be closely monitored to make sure that a change of heart of loss of interest doesn't befall them.
If no pact was made, then someone needs to find out just how all these pregnancies happened. Was contraception used at all? Was it used improperly? That alone might help the schools and facilities decide if they should be offered without parental consent. I as a parent would not want my daughters having sex. But on the same note I know full well that if they are going to, nothing is going to stop them, even if I deny them any form of protection.

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