Teenage Pregnancy Rate Jumps After Long Decline
The rate of teenage pregnancy in the US increased by 3% between 2005 and 2006 after declining for more than 10 years. The rate of abortion for this age range of teenage girls jumped by 1% from 2005 to 2006 as well, according to research group Guttmacher Institute. This is a turnaround that will likely heat up debates over federal financing for sex education to teach abstinence among girls between the ages of 15 and 19.
National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy’s Sarah Brown said that these figures are very disturbing. They have been progressing on this very serious problem for more than 10 years, she continued, and she worries that this progress has come to a stand still. She believes that there are many different factors that play into this issue, which includes contraception being used less, they aren’t as afraid of getting AIDS and the fact that US culture has turned into anything-goes - suggesting that it’s okay to get pregnant as a teen.
All three groups - whites, blacks and Hispanics - increased in the rate of pregnancies, although the rate for whites was far lower. After the rate of births to young women increased between 2005 and 2006, this increased again 2006-07. However, many experts say that it’s too early to tell if teenage pregnancy and birth rates will continue increasing back to the record high levels seen in the 80s and early 90s.
Although the Obama administration has moved from funding abstinence-only education programs, which were started with the Clinton Administration, there are continuing efforts to reinstate funding for these programs as part of the health reform. However, the Obama administration is creating a new initiative that will give funding to programs that have proven to prevent pregnancy with experimental approaches.