A baby step for Planned Parenthood? 'Leanne' disappears, need remains

In journalism school, the first thing they tell you is never, ever, to write an editorial about abortion or Planned Parenthood. It's bad juju. There is a reason I wasn't valedictorian in journalism school.

In the midst of the windy pro-life vs. pro-choice debate in the last presidential election, a letter arrived on my desk that was apparently written by a girl to the editors of a website called "teenwire.com"

"Dear Experts," it says, "I had an abortion a little over a month ago and now I'm pregnant again. What are the risks of having a second abortion?"

It is signed, "Leanne."

A supposed teenager pregnant for a second time just days after getting an abortion? And preparing for a second one?

If this were real, someone is a very slow learner, or perhaps our society has horrific holes in its ability to reach its young people. I went to check the letter out. The "teenwire" site purported to be a site for, by and about teens and their health and sexuality issues. Only in extremely tiny lettering hidden at the very bottom of the lead page was any indication of its origin or actual purpose - indicating it was copyrighted by Planned Parenthood.

The letter was indeed one among many appearing in the site's "Ask the Experts" section. (The advice returned was not signed, and I did not see any medical credentials for who these "experts" are.)

Troubling as "Leann's" letter is, the response also gave pause.

"Abortion is a very safe procedure. It's about twice as safe as having tonsils removed, and is much safer than giving birth..." teenwire told Leanne. "There is no evidence that having more than one abortion causes any health problems."

At one point, "Leann" is told that "the most important thing is not to delay the abortion procedure."

Looking through the archive of letters to the website, it was clear that there was an agenda.

The repeated, standard response to questions on abortion seemed to be "safer than giving birth..." and teens are advised not to delay.

Of course, the reasoning that would be given for this is that the abortion procedure is statistically safer earlier in the pregnancy than later, which is correct. And to its credit, the site routinely threw around the caveat, "The need for abortion can be prevented by proper use of birth control." (A little late for Leann, it seems.)

Nowhere in the response did it say anything about the idea that the need for abortion can also be prevented by not having sex until you are old enough to do so responsibly.

Or that there should be any consideration of possibly having and raising a child you have conceived, or of putting a child up for adoption to a loving home. (Except the oft-repeated line that having a baby isn't as safe as aborting it, that is.)

It also does not advise that the girl should possibly consider informing the father of the unborn child of the situation...

One supposed teen wrote that her friend is having an abortion, and says she is deeply concerned and wonders if she should tell her friend's mother. The reply, basically - no, you don't have a right to tell anyone. Um, check your Constitution on that.

Some of the questions were just heartbreaking - "Julissa" writes, "How can you make yourself have a miscarriage?" I was stunned.

"Bree" writes, "After your surgical abortion, are you able to just go along with your daily routine... if you are in athletics?" Are we really that cavalier about it?

"Jamika" asks for an explanation of the difference between pro-choice and pro-life.

The site responds that many pro-life people "mistakenly believe that pregnancy begins with the fertilization of the egg..." Any time people's beliefs are referred to as a "mistake," you have to wonder.

It all seemed tilted. Is that intended to be a reflection of teenage attitudes about pregnancy, I wonder? And frankly, I doubed if these were teens at all, but more likely someone's PR department in disguise.

In this column space, I ripped Planned Parenthood hard - not to argue against a woman's right of choice, or to belittle the importance of a health agency - but if we are out to protect "choice" here, these teens were not being told in this format of all the choices they do have.

Instead, the "Leannes" of the world seemed to be encouraged to rush into another abortion, and then to use contraception to continue the same lifestyle choices. (Last time I checked, the birth control and homonal contraception referred to often on the site may be rather effective against pregnancy if used ideally, but is not a protection against sexually-transmitted disease, which public health nurses tell me is on the rise in Buena Vista County).

There is probably a place for a service like a "teenwire," though not to promote an agency or agenda - especially if that agenda is hidden. Let's go ahead and identify our "experts" and source their "facts" to independent medical research, too.

Kids get their info online, that's the way it is. Not every young person with a question on their bodies or sexuality are going to feel comfortable going to a medical professional, school counselor or even a parent, and having a non-preachy source of accurate health information accessible for teens is a good idea.

When you criticize, it is only fair to report positive change as well. I took a look at the "new" teenwire.com today.

It is now clearly and prominently labeled as a Planned Parenthood-sponsored site. It is still very candid, but there are now sections equally addressing both underage abstinence and birth control. There is no longer a section promoting abortion. There are tools for parents and educators as well as a rather responsible set of information to help teenagers make choices. There is stuff too on issues like body image, anorexia and screenings.

And try as I might, I could not find LeAnne anywhere.

I have no idea if the thrashing I gave the site in print made any difference. But I am pretty sure that someone like Leanne needs more than some pills or an endless stream of abortions. Let's hope she found it.