BY KATIE GAISER
Lions’ Pride Layout Editor

An uprising of unwed pregnancies throughout America has caused many taxpayers grief as they have been forced to give up a portion of their money to support federal programs meant to aid mothers in need of assistance.

Apparently the idea of supporting one’s species is becoming less appealing these days.

Government programs such as Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provide federal grants to states for health care, food, and nutrition education for low income women from pregnancy until the child is age 5.

I spend 32 hours a week working with Child Protective Investigations of Pasco County. On any given day, I will interview several women who receive such services and actually need them. If these women were unable to feed their children or have access to proper medical care during their pregnancies, the safety of the child would in fact be in question.

To take it even further, what if the child needed to be removed after an investigation deemed it necessary? And what if that child had no relative or family friend to be placed with?

In this case, the child would most certainly be placed in foster care. And that’s exactly what we need, more children in foster care. Whose taxes do you think pay for that?

The point is, either way people are going to pay. While I can understand the unwillingness of working Americans to give up their money, they have to realize that this is how the system works. Even the lowest paycheck has some amount of money taken out for this new program or that new service. It’s all the same.

Like it or not, Americans have to take care of their own. These kids are future doctors, policemen, politicians, scientists, and educators who could change the world.

How many tax dollars do you think helped contribute to the upbringing of scientists who helped cure diseases, the investigators who helped get criminals off the street, and the inventors who helped put that giant flat screen in your living room?

We do the same thing for social security. Every two weeks, a portion of our check is taken out to support those who are no longer able to work. The youth take care of the old; the healthy take care of the sick. These are some of the basic fundamental ethics every society since the caveman lives by.
Let’s just say the government stopped these programs. What would happen then? Children would go unfed, and the sick and elderly would die off at alarming rates. But hey, at least you got an extra twenty bucks to blow on a few cocktails or some Burger King!

There’s just no doubt that this population needs attention. These days, the amount of babies born to unwed mothers under the age of 18 is startling. TV shows like MTV’s 16 and Pregnant portray just a few examples of babies having babies.

Now, I’m not supporting youth pregnancies by any means, but these girls need assistance. It’s not always about the mother and whether or not she deserves this or that.

If she was careless enough to get pregnant in a society that’s practically pushing birth control down little girls’ throats, who’s to say she’s responsible enough to ensure the good health of that unwanted child?

These programs need to exist. Next time you are bothered by the thought of keeping kids alive and healthy, reassess the value of human life, or come up with a better idea.
And that’s what she said.