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Then he blurred out, "Are you su re?"
·'Yes, I'm sure." was Suzy's shaky
reply.
This was ir for Clif( There was no
way ro rurn che dock back. Cliff and
Suzy found rhemselves having ro face
che consequenccs.
"Let's ger rogerhcr and ralk abour
what we can do. Tonight at your
place. Your folks are out of rown,
aren' t rhey?" Cli ff waited for che fear–
ful voice on che orher end.
"Yes, they are. Tonighr afrer sup–
per, abour six." Suzy answered.
··okay, see you rhen. Bye.' '
Cliff dang led che receiver beforc
purcing ir clown lighrly. ' ' Wh y,
why?'' he asked himself. ·' If we jusr
hadn'r. If we had jusr waired!" Bur ir
was roo lace. There was no way ro
erase the misrakc.
" But Mom .. . I 'm P regnant"
Subsequendy, Cliff and Suzy rold
rheir parenrs whar had happencd.
Cliff's parenrs reacred with ·'How can
we ger you our of ir?" Suzy's parcnrs
blamed Suzy, Cliff and his parenrs.
"How could you do somerhing like
ebar ro us?" chey moaned. Afrcr calk–
ing ir over. Suzy's parenrs decidcd
that Suzy would go ro a marerniry
home, have che baby and give ir up
for adoption.
In rhe monrhs rhar Suzy was away,
Cliff wenr ro the universiry. With
rime and geographical separarion,
rhey soon dri frcd apare. Anorher reen–
age romance was chalked up on che
shaccered love blackboard.
The pregnancy had hure everyone.
The child would never know irs real
parents. Suzy had gone rhrough a
traumaric expericncc, lose her virgin–
iry and had nothing ro show for i
t.
Her fanrasy of living happily ever
afrer wirh Cliff just didn'r work our
according ro the Hollywood formula .
Cliff had become hardened by che
experience. His relarionship wirh gi rls
became more casual at che univcrsiry.
Borh Cliff's and SuLy's parenrs found
ir difficulr ro livc in rheir gossipy
communiry.
Obviously. chis is merely one pos-
22
sible result of a middle-class chi ld
born out of wcd lock. Many young
couples decide ro marry or are fo rced
inro ir. In sri 11 orher cases. che girl
undergoes an aborrion.
In lowcr-class arcas, rhe young girl
will usu:dly rerain her child. In Amcr–
ica, she'll apply for Aid
ro
Families
wi th Dependent Children or cke out
a poverry-levcl ex isrence by some
orher means. A prisoner of her envi–
ronmenr and siruarion. she will be
condemning hersclf and her illegiri–
mare chi ld or children ro a life of
poverry.
The
illegirimare child, che hascy
m:uriage. or an aborrion - these are
sorne of rhc bicrcr fruits of premariral
sex. There is simply no way ro be sure
one can indulge and nor have ro pay
rhe physical consequences. Thcre is,
afrer al!. no such thing as "free love."
Someone pays a price. The problcm is
that no one can cell beforehand
wbo
will pay and how much rhc cose will
be.
The
High Cost of
Experimencation
Lesrer A. Kirkcndall , former Pro–
fessor of Fami ly life ar Oregon Scare
Universiry. published che scriking
resulcs of a srudv on premarit:tl sexual
indulgence by young people. He
enritled his book
Pt·emarita! lnter–
cotase and lnterpersonal Relations.
His conclusio n regarding prcrnari–
ral sex is cogenr:
"In a cerrain scnse. parricipacion in
premarical inccrcourse is like driving a
speeding car on a crowded roadway;
the consequences of rhe expericnce
can be known for cerrain only
fljter
che course has been run."
Lirerally millions of peoplc who
run rhe course of premariral sex find
an unwanred pregnancy ar rhe end of
rhe roadway. For orher millions, rhe
experience has been
anyrhin~
bur sar–
isfying.
The broken livcs of rhose who
have bcen hit by che effecrs of prc–
mariral inrercourse - che Jcssons of
rhose sharrered by rheir own cxpcri–
mencarion - should be enough ro
reach us: Don' r lec yourself or anyone
else ralk you inro raking any chances.
Shockingly. che expem - in che
face of che consequenccs - are unable
ro agree as ro if. when. or under whar
circumsrances premariral sexual rela–
rions should or shou ld nor be
engaged in.
Leaders
:~nd
laymen alike g ive
opin ions ranging from comp lete
absrinence
ro
coral sexual abandon.
Gr.anred. chcre are few on rhe larrer
specrrum. Bur wirhin rhe grcat smor–
gasbord of opinion, large numbcrs of
people in arrirude or bchavior con–
done premarital sex ual relacions. For
many people, like Diane or Suzy. sex
is permissible only if ir comes wirh
affecrion.
Srill, affecrion is no safeguard.
Once you leave che sraric realm of che
neatly printcd behavioral reporr and
descend ro che leve! of human experi–
ence, you find rhat promiscuous sex
has sharrered millions of lives.
Ending
tbe
Confusion
Any discussion of illegirimare chil–
dren, aborrions of premarira lly con–
ccived fccuses, and childrcn conceived
before marriage muse be scen in che
light of rwo basic quesrions: Is pre–
mariral sex beneficia! or harmful? lf it
is harmful, how can we eliminare ir?
A pragmaric way of finding rhe
answer is by looking ar rhe illegiri–
mare chile! and che forced marriage.
Are che effeccs beneficia!? If not, rhen
one muse scriously quesrion wherher
rhe cause - prem<trical sex - can be
defined in any rerms as bcing good.
Few people would say chac a baby
born o ut of wedlock prescnrs a
who lesome sirua rion.
Ir mav, for example, force an early
marriage. rudies show rhat che
younger rhc couple. che grearcr rhe
chance for mari cal un happi ness and
divorce.
Premarical pregnancy and early
rnarriage are roo ofren che high cose
of loving. financially. They can wreck
opporrunirics for a career and an edu–
cacion. A poor, young couple forced
inro marriage ora single woman wirh
PLAIN TRUTH September-October 1972