Outspoken Support For Our Cause

Oprah Says Focus on Education, Not Sexual Promiscuity

Oprah Winfrey, talk show host, activist and business woman has worked to help adolescent girls in the prevention of unplanned pregnancy.

Winfrey has experienced the trauma of teen pregnancy, and later told of her difficulty talking about it. "I would tell no one until I felt safe enough to share my dark past: the years I was sexually abused, from age 10 to 14, my resulting promiscuity as a teenager, and finally, at 14, my becoming pregnant. I was so ashamed, I hid the pregnancy until my swollen ankles and belly gave me away. The baby died in the hospital weeks later." -- Oprah If she had been given proper health education and resources, she may have been better able to cope with this experience. She may have also been able to have the resources for proper health care and nutrition during her pregnancy, perhaps even saving this child's live.

Today Oprah has used her Angel Network to help fund causes which help prevent teen pregancy. One program, Cool Girls, Inc. has worked to educate teens in hopes of preventing teen pregnancy, and is credited for a two-thirds reduction in this rate since opening it's program in Atlanta, Georgia. Cool Girls, Inc has been in operation for twelve years and in this time period 100% of its active members have not become pregnant and have stayed in school. Studies have found that reducing teen pregnancy leads to better self-esteem, more knowledge about their bodies, and less school attrition in active members than their peers.