Teen Pregnancy

Posted on January 20, 2012 by townsend

• U.S. teen pregnancy rate remains highest in developed world, By Shari Roan, January 19, 2012, Los Angeles Times: “Teen pregnancy rates in the United States have fallen in recent years, but the country still has a higher rate than any other developed country, according to data released Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Battles over how to best prevent teen pregnancy may be to blame for the continued high rate in the United States. Abstinence-only programs are favored in some areas while education and improved access to contraception are supported in others. The most recent controversy stemmed from the federal government’s refusal in December to allow emergency contraceptive pills to be sold over-the-counter to girls age 16 and younger…”
• CDC: Many teen moms didn’t think it could happen, By Mike Stobbe (AP), January 19, 2012, San Francisco Chronicle: “A new government study suggests a lot of teenage girls are clueless about their chances of getting pregnant. In a survey of thousands of teenage mothers who had unintended pregnancies, about a third who didn’t use birth control said the reason was they didn’t believe they could pregnant. Why they thought that isn’t clear. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey didn’t ask teens to explain. But other researchers have talked to teen moms who believed they couldn’t get pregnant the first time they had sex, didn’t think they could get pregnant at that time of the month or thought they were sterile…”
• Roanoke’s teen pregnancy rate plunges 32%, By Courtney Cutright, January 20, 2012, Roanoke Times: “Roanoke’s rate of teen pregnancies dropped nearly 32 percent from 2009 to 2010, moving the city out of the top 10 localities in Virginia with the highest rates. Roanoke still ranks 12th in the state. But the city’s teen pregnancy rate for 2010 is one of the lowest since 1996, according to Virginia Department of Health statistics posted online recently…”