According to the Guttmacher Institute, pregnancies among teenage women between the ages of 15 and 19 have dropped by 15 percent in just two years. That’s contributed to more than a 50 percent drop since the teen pregnancy rate peaked in 1990. Birth rates and abortion rates have experienced similarly steep declines over the past several years:
pregnancy birth abortion
CREDIT: GUTTMACHER INSTITUTE
Guttmacher’s data tracks closely with recent research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which found that the teen pregnancy and abortion rates hit new historic lows in 2009. The CDC researchers concluded that, although it’s unclear whether there was a specific tipping point in this area, more teens are now successfully preventing pregnancy by using contraception. Guttmacher’s latest report underscores that point, finding that more teens between the ages of 18 and 19 are now having sex, but fewer of them are becoming pregnant.
“The decline in the teen pregnancy rate is great news,” the report’s lead author, Kathryn Kost, noted. “Other reports had already demonstrated sustained declines in births among teens in the past few years; but now we know that this is due to the fact that fewer teens are becoming pregnant in the first place.”
“The good news is that we know what works to prevent teen pregnancy. Sex education works. Ensuring that teens have access to birth control works,” Leslie Kantor, Planned Parenthood’s vice president of education, added. “When young people have accurate information and resources, they make responsible decisions.”
But that positive news will probably come as a big surprise to many Americans. According to a 2013 survey conducted by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, most adults incorrectly believe that the teen pregnancy rate has been increasing over the past two decades.
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Story: http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/05/05/3434078/teen-pregnancy-sexual-health-responsible/