ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 15, 1997 TAG: 9702180015
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
AT ISSUE in the debate over release of U.S. funds for overseas family-planning programs - a release approved this week by the House of Representatives - was the fact that some organizations receiving the money also perform abortions.
Though the American dollars cannot be used to pay directly for overseas abortions, the linkage is too close for many anti-abortion congressmen. Supporters of the funds' release prevailed, however, with the counter that successful contraceptive programs help reduce the number of abortions in Third World countries.
True enough, and one reason to applaud the House action. But access to contraception is only part of the answer. Generally left out of the congressional debate was a more basic point about population control and economic development in poor countries: Above all else, the key to attaining both is recognition of the importance of education for girls.
Such recognition can be difficult in traditional cultures where traditional notions see the value of women chiefly in their ability to bear children. The problem, of course, is that what may have held true economically in a traditional agrarian society is no longer true in an urbanizing and industrializing world - not to mention the greater health risks of pregnancies in girls younger than 18, and the forfeiture of opportunities that results from motherhood so young.
The good news is that more Third World parents are heeding the message, and preferring that their daughters stay in school rather than marry and have children while still very young. According to a new report from the Alan Guttmacher Institute, girls aged 15 to 19 are two to three times more likely to have had seven years of schooling than women aged 40 to 44. Teen birth rates in Third World countries, though they still are higher than in wealthier countries, have dropped significantly in recent decades.
Both are cause and effect of the other. As teen births decline, more teen-age girls can stay in school longer. As staying in school becomes more the norm, more teen-age girls delay marriage and motherhood until they're older. The result is a double gain for poor countries - an easing of overpopulation pressures, and a greater diffusion of the educated skills that can help lift the countries out of poverty.
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