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Although the title is focused on "teen pregnancy," the majority of posts in the thread are focused on abortion. Abortion is way too contentious an issue to be discussed in General US without controversy. Please follow the discussion to the Politics and Other Controversies forum.
In addition to which, abortion has nothing to do with the topic. A higher rate of abortion will not create the appearance of a lower teenage pregnancy rate because guess what: you don't qualify for an abortion until after you're pregnant!
This does seem to demonstrate the ineffectiveness of the use of religion as a means of controlling the sexual behavior of American teenagers.
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Ok, this post is about teen pregnancy and abortion...If some pro-lifers on here were teachers (especially in the slums of a city like I am), I'm sure their views would drastically change. You see 20 year old mothers (who were 14 and 15 when they had them) who don't know how to discipline their child who cause SO many problems in the classroom, and don't do classwork at home with them so the child is so far behind. I once had 1 student whose clothes were so old and small on her, and her mom looked perfectly fine to work but didn't. The child said her mom sits home all day and doesn't want to work. Those kind of people shouldn't even have a child. We had to call child protection services because the mother neglecting. You think people like this should have babies? I felt so bad for this kid, but it wasn't her fault. Some teens in the hood just want a kid because everyone else is doing it. Real mature and definitely responsible...
If some pro-lifers on here were teachers (especially in the slums of a city like I am), I'm sure their views would drastically change. You see 20 year old mothers who don't know how to discipline their child who cause SO many problems in the classroom, and don't do classwork at home with them so the child is so far behind. I once had 1 student whose clothes were so old and small on her, and her mom looked perfectly fine to work but didn't. The child said her mom sits home all day and doesn't want to work. Those kind of people shouldn't even have a child. We had to call child protection services because the mother neglecting. You think people like this should have babies? I felt so bad for this kid, but it wasn't her fault. Some people in the hood just want a kid because everyone else is doing it. Real mature and definitely responsible...
Sex education and birth control should definitely be a priority for schools to educate the young. Do NYC schools do this?
Before everyone gets off on a political, morality or blame track, let's take a moment to see just WHO produced these statistics and why. ALWAYS, ALWAYS question the source before going off half-cocked. Don't be so easily deceived by advocacy groups.
This data was developed by the Guttmacher Institute, described in the article as a "think tank." It was founded by Dr. Alan Guttmacher who was an important and active member of Planned Parenthood for many years after witnessing a botched illegal abortion in the 1920's. (all this is from their website).
A couple of quotes from Dr. Guttmacher show his thoughts on abortion:
"No woman is completely free unless she is wholly capable of controlling her fertility and...no baby receives its full birthright unless it is born gleefully wanted by its parents."
"We really have the opportunity now to extend free choice in family planning to all Americans, regardless of social status, and to demonstrate to the rest of the world how it can be done. It's time we got on with the job."
Among the Institutes goals are these:
They will conduct verifiable scientific research in order to develop:
• A comprehensive view of sexual and reproductive health. The Institute regards sexual and reproductive health as encompassing a wide range of people’s needs from adolescence onward. The Institute works to protect, expand and equalize access to information, services and rights that will enable women and men to
•avoid unplanned pregnancies;
•prevent and treat sexually transmitted infections, including HIV;
•exercise the right to choose abortion;
•achieve healthy pregnancies and births; and
•have healthy, satisfying sexual relationships.
And, they will use that research in the following manner:
Use evidence-based advocacy to translate research findings into action.
• Advocate effectively for evidence-based U.S. domestic and foreign policies on sexual and reproductive health and rights in order to improve access to reliable information and good quality services.
• Advocate effectively for evidence-based policies at the global level, in other major donor countries and in selected developing countries in collaboration with local organizations.
• Raise the public profile of Guttmacher’s work in order to increase its potential impact on policies and programs and garner support from important funders for Guttmacher’s future work.
In other words, the goal of their research is to affect public policy and turn the Institute into an authority on the subject of sexual health.
Now...why is that important to know when reviewing the OP's original link and the article it goes to?
Just this. Within that article we find this quote from a representative of the Institute:
"It's interesting to note that this flattening out of the rate and the increase in the rate is happening at the same time that we've seen substantial increases in funding for abstinence-only programs," Finer said.
Do you see what's happening now? The Institute is pro-choice, in line with the opinions of it's founder, and this data is being released to the media with little other aim than to discredit abstinence-only programs. The data, which must be suspect given the aim of the Institute, apparently makes no effort to establish a definitive cause and effect link between the rise in teen pregnancies and abstinence-only programs, but you'd never know that because the idea is just sort of "casually" tossed out there by the Institute's spokesman.
Additionally, there is no information on just what the Institute considers as "teenage" for the purposes of their research nor is there any indication how many of these pregnancies are a result of marriage, rape, stable relationships or casual sex.
In summation, let me suggest that what we have here is just one more example of how public opinion can be shaped and driven by those with an agenda which is not readily apparent without digging deeper.
Don't be fooled so easily, not this time nor any time you see alarming data coming from some advocacy group.
New Mexico led the states with the highest teenage pregnancy rate with nine percent, followed by Nevada, Arizona, Texas and Mississippi.
New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Minnesota and North Dakota had the lowest rates of teen pregnancies.
it seems that the top 5 has got some of the highest crimes rates while the bottom 5 have some of the lowest crime rates.
Is that the answer to the other post about the murder rates and why certain states have higher rates, j/k but who knows.
This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.
Sex education and access to birth control/ pregnancy prevention, worked.
When you either refuse to give teenagers access to true sex education and pregnancy prevention; based on some delusional, looney, unrealistic religious platform of "abstinence"......... Kids ....teenagers ....will get preganant.
I said it years ago and knew this would happen. It's common sense and Human Behavior 101.
Sex education and access to birth control/ pregnancy prevention, worked.
When you either refuse to give teenagers access to true sex education and pregnancy prevention; based on some delusional, looney, unrealistic religious platform of "abstinence"......... Kids ....teenagers ....will get preganant.
I said it years ago and knew this would happen. It's common sense and Human Behavior 101.
Only the lunatic religiousNazis don't get it.
If anything, the liberals who support abortions are Nazis.... after all they support the murder of the innocent
Birth control and sex ed are a good thing... your post was good until your vicious hate rant against Christians
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