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Responsible: having an obligation to do something, or having control over or care for someone, as part of one’s job or role. Being morally accountable for one’s behavior.

In lieu of the latest Supreme Court ruling, the family dynamic will further be impacted. In this piece, I’m not advocating for or against the ruling.

I want to draw our attention to a family principle that may be dying on the vine. The principle of being responsible.

According to a study done by Human Life International, 1.14 percent of abortions are done to save the life or physical health of the mother, 1.28 percent to preserve the mental health of the mother, .39 percent in cases of rape or incest, .69 percent for fetal birth defects or eugenics and 3.5 percent for all the hard cases combined.

Here’s the alarming fact: 96.5 percent of all abortions are therefore performed for social or economic reasons.

Yes, we know that it’s preferred to have sex only after one gets married. However, let’s deal with reality. Our children are having sex at a much earlier age than a decade ago.

Whether in 1922 or 2022, if people don’t want to have a child, take the responsibility against getting pregnant.

Our children know that having unprotected sex can lead to pregnancy. But are we doing an effective job of promoting and implanting the principle of responsibility?

Are we teaching our children to be responsible across the board?

Yes, we can apply this principle as it pertains to pregnancy, but what about being responsible with their GPA?

Being responsible with their character and integrity?

Are we effectively teaching them to be responsible within the home?

We talk it, but do we teach it?

They lose their I-Phone, we fuss and go get them another I-Phone.

I do understand wanting to give our children the best possible chance to succeed in life. But without being responsible, the chances will go to waste.

There are consequences for every choice we make. And not making a choice is still making a choice.

If we enhance the focus of teaching our children to be responsible, I believe we’ll reduce the number of abortions, the number of drug abusers, the number criminal activities and the number of school dropouts.

It starts with the village upping our engagement of being responsible for our family, our community, our village.

Our children can’t learn what they are not taught. Let’s embrace a deeper level of responsibility and teach our children to embrace being responsible.

An unborn child’s life may depend on it.

Pastor De’mo Moffett, MSM, BSCJ is the senior pastor at Orange Church of God-Embassy of Grace. Email him at pastordemomoffett@gmail.com.