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By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

December 24, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Jamie Lynn Spears, 16-year-old sister of Britney Spears, is causing some consternation among abortion advocates by announcing that she is expecting and plans to keep the baby.

As reported in LifeSiteNews.com recently, Jamie Lynn told OK! Magazine, “I can’t say it was something I was planning to do right now. But now that it’s in my lap and that it’s something I have to deal with, I’m looking forward to being the best mom I can be.”

Two of this year’s biggest movies, “Juno” and “Knocked Up,” deal with the issue of teenagers with unplanned pregnancies, and deciding against abortion.

“It certainly shows any young women watching these movies or following these celebrities that the best option is to have the baby and it glorifies that choice,” said Joyce Arthur of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada in CP report.

“But it (abortion) is just sort of being totally ignored, as though no one would ever even think of doing that. But abortion is a very commonly resorted-to option for women, especially unmarried teenaged girls,” opined Arthur.

Psychiatrist and author, Dr. Gail Saltz, gave an interesting insight into teenage pregnancy and parental response, in light of Jamie Lynn’s decision, in an interview with Access Hollywood.

“We should see this as an opportunity to talk to our kids about our morals, our values and about sex — that having sex changes you,” Saltz said. “It’s emotionally powerful and frankly, there are risks involved. There are sexually transmitted diseases and there is pregnancy.”

Saltz also noted that because of the way the brain develops, parents need to help children out with using judgment.

“The other issue is that the frontal lobe is not fully developed until you are in your early to mid 20s,” she said. “This is the part of the brain that houses judgment and consequence, so teens are less prepared to think about, ‘If I do this today, what will happen to me tomorrow?’ You as a parent need to be that alter ego to them — be that frontal lobe. Talk to them about the consequences that may face them emotionally and of course physically.”

In a remarkably mature expression of her understanding of her situation, Spears concluded in her OK! Magazine interview, “I’m the one who has to live with it for the rest of my life. I put myself in this position, an adult position, so I have to act like an adult and take responsibility for what I did.”

Related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Britney Spears’ 16-Year-Old Sister Jamie Lynn Decides Against Abortion
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/dec/07122001.html