September 14, 2013

Child Brides and Too-Early Sexual Activity

By Janice Shaw Crouse
Recently, the world read with horror about the death of a Yemeni 8-year-old child bride who died of internal bleeding and uterine rupture on her wedding night to a man five times her age. According to UN and other reports, nearly 14% of Yemeni girls are married before age 15 and more than half before the age of 18. Ironically, the issue of child marriage, like abortion, is a dilemma for the left. The left is opposed to sex-selection abortions but works toward universal abortion-on-demand. Likewise, the left is against child marriage but is committed to "defend the rights of all young people to enjoy their sexual lives free from ill health, unwanted pregnancy, violence and discrimination." Something especially problematic for the left is that while opposing marriage before age 18, they advise teens "who are going to have sex anyway" that it's better to use condoms and engage in "safe sex." For the left, then, child marriage is the problem, not the fact that the girls are engaging in...(Read Full Article)