A Shocking Ad Shows The Dark Realities Of Teen Pregnancy And Anti-Abortion Laws

Alex Green

Fellow Americans, a social welfare organization fighting for political change, has released an eye-opening public service announcement that has many people talking across social media.

On Oct. 19, the organization released a short video called “Always and Forever” which shows a 12-year-old girl walking into an adoption center and requesting to adopt a baby. Naturally, the center employee raises eyebrows when the youngster asks the baffling question.

“That’s adorable. But impossible,” the woman says. “Legally we can’t adopt to anyone under the age of 21. And the average age for our adoptive parents is 43. So, you’ve got some time.”

The young girl quickly replies, “Well, it sounds like I’m old enough to have a baby. Hello, period and PE class? I should be able to adopt…am I right?”

She’s ready for the middle school play…does that mean she’s ready for this? pic.twitter.com/N8PuPdiKws

— Fellow Americans (@Your_Americans) October 19, 2022

The adoption center worker then tries to dissuade the bushy eye pre-teen with facts about the reality of motherhood and pregnancy.

“No, you’re wrong. You got to provide food, shelter, mental and dental. Do you have proof of income,” she retorts before running down a list of reasons why it’s “unsafe” for the young girl to “carry a child.”

“Pregnant teens are at high risk for preeclampsia,” she explains. “Toxemia, emotional trauma, emergency surgery, hemorrhaging, death, and pain when you pee.”

The harsh realities of teen pregnancy are just enough to persuade the young girl into adopting “a puppy” instead.

Toward the end of the video, another young girl comes into the clinic. Thinking that the teen also wants to adopt a young child, the worker shouts: “We do not adopt to children here,” but the second teen quickly interjects, “I was just wondering if you knew where the abortion clinic is. My phone says it’s in this building but I can’t find it.”

To which the worker replies solemnly, “Oh I’m sorry. It was on the first floor but the state closed all of them. “

The PSA ends with a powerful message that reads:

“We wouldn’t let a kid adopt a kid. So why would we ever force a kid to have a kid?”

The tough realities for pregnant teens

Pregnant teens already faced a number of legal and logistical barriers to accessing reproductive health care. Now, those issues have been compounded due to Roe. V. Wade’s dismantling.

A number of states have banned or severely restricted abortion, leaving adolescents no choice but to travel where they can undergo the procedure. Here’s the issue. At least thirty-seven states “require minors to either notify or obtain consent from a parent before they can get an abortion, according to the reproductive rights advocacy group If/When/How. Young minors don’t have the financial and legal means to organize travel arrangements without parental consent.

It’s a huge problem. In 2019, women ages 19 and younger accounted for 8.9 percent of abortions in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Guttmacher Institute estimated that 12 percent of abortion patients in 2014 were under 20 years old. Sadly, after Roe V. Wade was overturned, a 10-year-old girl in Ohio was denied an abortion after the state’s six-week abortion ban took effect.

During an interview with NPR, Julie Maslowsky, a public health professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, said that she worried adolescents were “going to be left with fewer options than adults.”

“It will be difficult, stressful, harmful, and some adolescents will not be able to make the choice that they want to make,” Maslowsky added.

Social media reacts to the PSA

After the PSA went viral, social media users flocked to the internet with all sorts of reactions.

“Our bodies are sovereign,” wrote one Twitter user. “Forced childbirth is a form of brutality that only faithless abusers would visit upon CHILDREN. Subjugation and control is all they are after. They don’t care about the children.”

Our bodies are sovereign. Forced childbirth is form of brutality that only faithless abusers would visit upon CHILDREN. Subjugation and control is all they are after.

👏🏻They 👏🏻don’t 👏🏻care 👏🏻about 👏🏻the 👏🏻children.👏🏻 https://t.co/Utx4Oo9HAf

— Moxiecologist (@moxiecologist) October 24, 2022

While another person commented, “This would be hysterical if it weren’t actually happening across the country as we speak…”

This would be hysterical if it weren't actually happening across the country as we speak… https://t.co/YbwpJGEJpb

— Just your Aunty Tifa.. (@The_Old_Crank) October 23, 2022

Others users urged people to get out and vote after watching the emotional ad.

We wouldn’t let teens adopt a child, why would we force them to birth one? #BansOffOurBodies #ReproductiveFreedom #VoteBlueIn2022 https://t.co/4lvJW1fnft

— Susan Lauer 💙 (@susan_lauer) October 23, 2022