Sally Doty - Solving Key Issues in the Senate

Sally Doty is a Senator in Mississippi who has aggressively pushed for solutions to several key issues in the Senate, including but not limited to the following:
Teen Pregnancy
Sally Doty is working hard to prevent teen pregnancy because, “at this stage in their lives, they should be students, not parents.” She aims to diminish the numbers of teen pregnancy in Mississippi by sponsoring legislation to require better, age-appropriate sex education courses within the school system. Teenagers are often unable to realize the consequences of their actions. Therefore, it is important to spread awareness and show teenagers how their lives will be affected by an early and unplanned pregnancy.

Human Trafficking
Sally Doty and her fellow senators in Mississippi are working diligently to put an end to human trafficking both in their state and the country as a whole. While human trafficking is a continually growing problem in Mississippi and throughout the globe, lawmakers such as Doty are using their influence to help put an end to the horrendous crime of human trafficking and other forms of interpersonal violence.

Teacher Pay
Sally Doty stood behind a new payment plan that gave Mississippi teachers a pay raise in the 2014-2015 school year, and set up a merit program for 2017. With two children still in the public school system, Senator Doty knows that teachers are important professionals who play a vital role in children’s lives. These professionals watch over and guide their pupils throughout the day, and they also advise these kids and help them figure out what path to take in their future endeavors.

Sally Doty - The Importance of Preventing Teen Pregnancy

Senator Sally Doty works to provide solutions to issues affecting Mississippi and the greater United States. A key to preventing teen pregnancy is spreading awareness of what having a child actually entails. Teenage girls should know what having a child at a young age could do to their bodies and to their futures. It is important that young girls understand that pregnancies at a young age are almost always high risk. Young women who become pregnant are at a higher risk than their older counterparts of developing high blood pressure. They are also at a high risk for delivering early, and their baby having a low birth weight. This could impact not only their own bodies but their children as well.

Although, the majority of the stigma is placed on the teenage girls for being the one that is pregnant, teen boys also need to be informed of the ramifications of getting a girl pregnant.  Pregnancy at an early age can destroy a young person’s finances. Some teen parents are forced to drop out of high school to take care of their children. It is also difficult for teen parents to attend college later because their finances often do not allow it, or they do not have the help they need to raise a small child while attending school. This could result in teen parents being unable to support their children and, potentially, lifelong poverty.

Senator Sally Doty is on a task force that addresses the issue of teen pregnancy in Mississippi that has already seen some improvement in the teen pregnancy rate, which they hope to continue to lower during the next legislative term.

Source: https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/high-risk/conditioninfo/Pages/factors.aspx