A new report demonstrates a slight increase in teen pregnancy, and abortions, as well as a modest increase in teen live births during 2006. What strikes me most in this report is that two-thirds of teen pregnancies were in ages 18-19. To me, it would seem responsible for parents and educators to place more focus on preventative efforts on this demographic -- where most teen pregnancies occur -- to the young college-age person.
The teen pregnancy rate in the USA rose 3% in 2006, the first increase in more than a decade, according to data out today. The data also show higher rates of births and abortions among girls 15-19.
The numbers, calculated by the Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit group that studies reproductive and sexual health, show a clear reversal from the downward trend that began in the 1990s.
About 7% of teen girls got pregnant in 2006, a rate of 71.5 pregnancies per 1,000 teens. That's up slightly from 69.5 in 2005, Guttmacher says. In 1990, when rates peaked, about 12% got pregnant.
Guttmacher and others suggest the increase is related
to a focus on abstinence-only sex education programs under the Bush
administration.
Funding for abstinence doubled from 2000 to
2003, to $120 million. By 2008, funding was at $176 million. Guttmacher
is an outspoken opponent of abstinence-only education.
Those on
the other side cry foul. "To me, it appears to be another opportunity
to throw a barb at abstinence education," says Valerie Huber of the
National Abstinence Education Association. She says that only a quarter
of federal funding for teen sexuality programs went to abstinence in
2008.
In 2006, two-thirds of all teen pregnancies were to ages 18-19; data do not reflect marital status.
Guttmacher's analysis shows a 4% increase in the teen birth rate and a 1% rise in abortion rates, based on federal statistics and Guttmacher's abortion research. The National Center for Health Statistics will release its pregnancy rate data later this year.
Source: USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-01-26-1Ateenpregnancy26_ST_N.htm
