Although there are plenty of Family Planning offices in all communities across America, it may not be excessively forward to say that they have not been doing a very good job, for this country has the highest teen pregnancy, birth and abortion rates of any industrialized country. More than ten years ago, and based on the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth, 49% of all pregnancies and 31% of all births nationally were unintended at the time of conception.

It's now 2007 and a majority of mainstream women who have fought for pro-choice, condoms, safe sex and birth control, truly wanted to give poor females the option to elect whether or not to bring a child into this world, yet we find that they have not won the fight against irresponsible sexual behaviors, nor preventing mistakes, accidents and out-of-wedlock children.

Two-thousand-seven, and poor people continue to neglect their birth control options. They continue to exercise poor judgment by bringing more children into the world, while living in the lowest income brackets. Obviously they are oblivious to the negative effects their lack of sexual control and responsibility will have on the child and on our society.

Most poor people do not consider if their home is large enough or the right environment for their children. They do not consider if they can afford the emotional and financial expense that's attached to having more children. They are not considering what their work schedules, if any, would be like.

Is it presumptuous to say that our society has been paying too high a price stemming from these negative and self-destructive attitudes, which seem to be skyrocketing? The growth in this culture of irresponsibility in America has increased dramatically in the past twenty years. The proof is in the vivid portrait the statistics reveal.

Emma Goldman (6/27/1869) was the first lady to fight for women's reproductive rights. Her pioneering work for the liberation of women identified birth control as an essential component in the larger battle for women's sexual and economic freedoms.

The fight for women's healthcare concerns and options was largely accepted and practiced by mature, married couples who'd grasped the common sense and the skill to determine whether they were financially, emotionally, and spiritually prepared to bring a child into this world. Educated and responsible couples practice some form of birth control method with thought to the well being and future development of the child.

When responsible adults think about increasing the size of their family, they keep in mind how the child added to their extended family will grow and thrive. These two critical elements have everything to do with care, love and support, and helps create a unique family. Healthy sexual behaviors are based on shared personal values and respect for one's sexual partners.

In addition, children who are reared by supportive, accepting parents with whom they can identify with, tend to develop into self-aware adults capable of formulating long-term goals. They often engage in a constructive self-criticism and cherish their relationships with others. (Psychology Today 2000)

Conscientious and educated women and men choose to be parents, fully aware they can both afford to support the child, and are not forced nor obligated to accept government aid or child support.

Why is family planning practiced primarily by mature, stable, middle-class, working-class married couples? In contrast, poor adults are to a great extent, incapable of taking proper care of their children.

Considering the struggle and efforts by Emma Goldman, the Suffrage Movement, the Modern Feminist Movement and perhaps even some members of the Radical Movement in creating choices and options for women, how is it possible for this country, which disseminates widespread information to be "sabotaged" or undermined by adults who lack sexual control and a clear sense of social responsibility? Why are low income, single females and welfare mothers not required to exercise the same responsibilities, as educated and mature women? ("The most violent element in society is ignorance." Mother Earth Publication 1906-1917)

Most poor, single or welfare mothers continue to show their ignorance about the available options open to them. They do not ask themselves if they themselves are mentally stable or properly educated to bring a child into the world. They do not ask themselves if they have the necessary resources to be single and/or welfare mothers. They do not ask themselves if they will need help, nor where to get help, based on shared agreement and understanding with the father? Do they seek financial assistance from the state welfare agencies, and if they do, she is confessing that she has limited or no means of support? She knows that she can get government assistance, and that child support benefits are all just around the corner, at her disposal.

Although the message of behavior and responsibility is clear to educated women, the irresponsible and uneducated females have a long way to go before they connect the dots and realize what their actions are saying to the rest of the generation of responsible, stable and educated women. They have a long way to go to realize what their irresponsible behaviors, lack of sexual control say to society, the Court of Law, the state, and our government. Their careless actions are saying that they are incapable of controlling their childbearing reproductive functions, and are incapable of competing in the job market, and that they are weak.

Females who have children with no regard to their financial status, or mental and emotional stability cannot support their offspring without outside State assistance. Responsible women do not rely on State, government or Welfare assistance. They use common sense, knowledge, discipline, and responsibility and know when not to bring a child into the world if they cannot afford to.

The welfare system discourages females to finish high school, attend a community college, improve her education (basic skills - reading, writing, communicating effectively, etc.) The welfare system discourages recipients to study a trade or apply toward a vocational skill, which are the keys to financial independence. The system does not help welfare mothers to understand how critical it is to think of the well being of the children. Teenage mothers are at risk of perpetuating the cycles of poverty and school failure, while their offspring are at risk for low-birth weight, poor access to healthcare, poverty and early childhood developmental problems. It's time to stop the culture of victims which is so much in vogue.

The welfare system encourages females lacking the finances and schooling, to continue to have children, without the responsibility of some day paying back the monies and benefits they received, and worse, to continue having more offspring.

The state welfare and the government agencies never ask females on low incomes: "Can you honestly afford to have another child?"

Many folks view this cycle of ill-advised excessive births, as a form of child-abuse. The resulting offspring often drop out of schools, become involved in gangs, drugs, and other dangerous activities, including becoming parents themselves at far too young an age (children having children), thus perpetuating the downward spiral of despair and poverty. Our prison system is the witness to these social failures, and it's very costly to America.

In 2002, there were nearly 3.5 million poor persons living in this country, and an additional 13 million children are born out of wedlock each year.

What shape would this country be in if welfare did not exist? How many children would not be born to mothers who cannot afford to support them? Would a smaller number of children come into this world as "accidents" or mistakes? Would irresponsible females consider their choices and exercise birth control options? Would health officials painstakingly report a growing surge of abortions? The answer to these questions is but a simple matter of responsibility and sexual control.

What else can the concerned people in this country do to get the message out? How else should we educate or inform the poor and deliver the power of birth control into the hands of all? The existing technologies and information are available at no expense to them, so the problems are surmountable. The necessary missing ingredient might just be to inculcate a sense of personal responsibility, and real caring toward children, and the country as a whole.

Once upon a time, a great president, John F. Kennedy, said: "Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You….Ask What You Can Do For Your Country".

Society is tired of taking care of other people's children because they claim they are "pro life" until birth. Then, after the child is born, they could care less what happens to the child once they receive their welfare monies and benefits.

Society is tired of the inactivity of the so-called welfare reform plan (that was very much intended by our former President William Clinton) meant to control overpopulation, and reign in poverty, limiting irresponsible habits and saving America millions of tax dollars.

End the dependence of needy parents on government benefits by promoting job preparation, work and marriage. Prevent and reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies and establish annual numerical goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of these pregnancies. Encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families, changing sexual behavior for the better and returning to the original condition of traditional family standard.

Once upon a time, if a female had an out-of-wedlock pregnancy, society treated her like an outcast. To make matters worse for women, birth control methods were quite limited, there were little if any employment opportunities, and there was no Social Security Act.

In 1973 the Supreme Court felt that it was unreasonable to punish a female for illicit sexual intercourse resulting in an unwanted pregnancy. (Roe vs. Wade) The court's decision was strongly influenced by the sexual freedoms, and the ideas and struggles of educated men and women.

In kind, The Supreme Court further decided to protect women against unwanted pregnancies, by providing us with the most advanced and readily available contraception technologies possible. Years have passed since this Supreme Court decision, and yet we have a high rate of unstable, uneducated and irresponsible adults overburdening this country with unstable, dysfunctional children, at times giving America the impression or resemblance of being a bleak, third world country.

One last mention about Ms. Emma Goldman . . . Emma believed that the law that denied women access to birth control information was acting out social economic injustice, and was keeping women down with its unjust use of authority. During her time, Emma could not be kept down. She continued to fight the battle for women's control over her body. She believed compassionately in the struggle against the social economic and political conditions that fostered and reinforced inequality.

Yes, we have come a long way, but it's clear, we still have a long way to go . . .