The Teen Vogue website (the magazine is now defunct) is a rather scary place. From mixing sex and magic (seriously, that is an article) or learning the importance of consent in BDSM, Teen Vogue has become a place that can make even married adults blush. There is nothing “teen” in the website, but instead a desire to push a sexually progressive agenda and teach young girls how to subvert their parents in order to obtain an abortion. 

Last week a pro-life advocate, Laura Klassen of Choice42, posted to Twitter images of Teen Vogue’s Snapchat where the series was titled, “How to Get an Abortion if You’re a Teen.” Needless to say, parental involvement is optional.

The first slide in the series says, “Imagine this…you’re 16, you’re pregnant, and you don’t want to be. How can you go about getting an abortion if you’re under 18? Read on to find out more…” Second slide, “Having access to abortion should be your right, regardless of your parents’ beliefs. Unfortunately, not every state legislature agrees so the first step is knowing your state’s rules when it comes to parental consent.” Finally, “Let’s say your state’s law does require that your parents are involved. You know your parents best, and if you feel their reactions might be hostile, you should act accordingly. Regardless, it’s always best to tell your parents as long as you feel safe. No matter what your parents’ abstract views are, they might behave far more tenderly when their own child needs access to abortion care.”

There is an attempt in the end to somewhat encourage parental involvement, but only if the teenager “feels safe.” Of course, that could be interpreted any way that the reader wants but the right to an abortion is definitely not in question. There is also an article online titled, “How to get an abortion if you don’t want to tell your parents,” with the helpful subtitle, “It can be tricky.” It’s the first result in a website search for abortion.

While these slides made waves throughout the pro-life community, these are by no means a surprise. Spend any time on Teen Vogue’s website or Twitter feed and it becomes apparent that fashion and make up take a back seat to sex, LGBT topics, witchcraft, progressive politics and a variety of other topics that most parents would consider unsuitable for teenagers and perhaps even adults.

As a bit of background, Teen Vogue was first launched in the early 2000s as a teen-centric alternative to the adult version of Vogue. The magazine was also rather cheap, with a price of just $1.99 when it first hit the stands to lure in young readers with a limited budget. In those early years, most of the content was focused on being a teenage girl, fashion, health and young Hollywood stars. It wasn’t until 2017, the same year the magazine stopped publication, that a rather infamous online column ran describing to teenagers, apparently with diagrams, how they could have anal sex. There was a rather visceral reaction from parents across the country.

Phillip Picardi, the gay identified former digital editorial director, responded on Twitter that, “the backlash to this article is rooted in homophobia. It’s also laced with arcane delusion about what it means to be a young person today.” He also wrote that, “You see, my Catholic school was guilty of endangering all of us by sheer omission of the facts. Education doesn’t equal encouragement.”

That isn’t exactly true. The country’s sexually transmitted disease (STD) rates are proof enough of that. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Youth ages 15-24 make up just over one quarter of the sexually active population, but account for half of the 20 million new sexually transmitted infections that occur in the United States each year.” It is likely that the “education” Picardi is advocating for has perhaps resulted in some rather risky behavior. 

Teen Vogue, instead of bowing to the controversy and changing strategy, decided to continue to produce more and more sexually graphic content for teenagers. The decision was rewarded as the website has gained a greater following as a result. The strategy is working, and Teen Vogue has no need to change anytime soon.

Encouraging teenagers to get an abortion without their parents’ permission is only the tip of the iceberg. If parents are looking for a clean, teen-girl-centric publication, look no further than Focus’ Brio magazine. There, teenagers can find encouragement, not broken adults pushing their sexually promiscuous ideology on impressionable young minds.