Pregnancy High: Glouchester High School Deals with Pregnancy Boom

School officials at Gloucester High School are dealing with a new type of Baby Boomers: 17 girls expecting babies in the 1,200-student school. Worse yet, pregnancies appear to have become a type of extracurricular try-out for girls who made “pregnancy pacts” to try to become unwed mothers. The school must now deal with students who seem more interested in passing their pregnancy tests than their science tests. There appears to be a link to the plot of the popular movie “Juno.” One of the most provocative legal questions will be whether statutory rape charges will be brought against some of the males over 18 — including a homeless man — allegedly used by the girls to fulfill the pact.

School officials became aware of an emerging problem with the nurse reported an unusual number of girls asking for pregnancy tests. They also noticed girls giving each other “high fives” and throwing showers for those who “passed.” Further inquiry uncovered the pregnancy pact. There is also the suspicion that the plot was hatched with reference to the story line in the movie “Juno” involving a high school pregnancy, click here.

The “donors” included a 24-year-old homeless man, click here. This raises the question of possible statutory rape charges. Statutory rape has long been controversial, particularly in cases of concealment by the girls. In one case, a girl succeeded in getting two men sent to jail, click here, despite a pattern of concealment. Most laws do not have a defense for such cases and there is a very disturbing inconsistency in when these laws are enforced — as in the case of Jamie Lynn Spear, click here.

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