Teen Pregnancy

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Teen Pregnancy Issues


Teen pregnancy has declined greatly within the past few years but its still an enormous problem that needs to be addressed. The United States has one of the highest birth rates than any other country. This doesn’t mean that our teens are having more sex than other foreign teens its just means that they aren’t educated enough to know the consequences. In 2000, Pennsylvania alone had 50,610 pregnancies among girls under 20 and that is a low statistic compared to some states such as California or Texas. (U.S Teenage…) We as parents and educators need to teach our children what the consequences are so they don’t end up having kids them selves. Below are some statistics of teen pregnancy and abortion.
Rates of pregnancy, birth and abortion among U.S. teenagers continued their downward trend in 2000 (Table 1). Nationwide, the teenage pregnancy rate declined by 2% between 1999 and 2000 (from 85.7 to 83.6 pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15–19). From 1986-2000, the rate dropped by 22% and, more importantly, fell by 28% since peaking in 1990. The birthrate for teenagers also declined by 2% between 1999 and 2000 (from 48.8 to 47.7 births per 1,000 women aged 15–19). The 2000 rate was 5% lower than the 1986 rate and 23% lower than the peak rate of 61.8 births per 1,000 women reached in 1991. (U.S. Teenage…)
Teenagers’ abortion rate in 2000 was 24.0 per 1,000 women aged 15–19—some 3% lower than the 1999 rate of 24.7 per 1,000. From 1986 to 2000, the abortion rate dropped by 43%; during the same period, the proportion of teenage pregnancies ending in abortion fell from 46% to 33%—a decline of more than one-quarter (27%). Overall in 2000, one-third of pregnancies among 15–19-year-olds ended in abortion (Table 2). However, in New Jersey, 60% of teenage pregnancies ended in abortion, as did at least 50% in New York, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. By contrast, only 13% of pregnancies amon...