Focus on the Family
April 14, 2003
Washington, DC -- More teens are saying no to sex outside of
marriage, and that fact is the primary reason for the drop in
teen birth and pregnancy rates in recent years new scientific
research shows. The peer-reviewed study, published in the journal 'Adolescent and Family Health' this month, flies in the face of previous
reports attributing the decline to increased use of contraception.
The report cited abstinence as the No. 1 factor in recent drops
in the teen pregnancy rate. Overall, the study found that 100
percent of the drop in birth-rates and 67 percent of the drop in
pregnancy rates could be attributed to single teens heeding the
message of abstinence education.
Joanna Mohn, M.D., the study's principal researcher, said
previous research crediting condom use with the declines was
flawed. Mohn contends those studies did not account for
significant statistics and factors, such as a distinction between
married and unmarried teenage girls as well as teen girls who had not been
sexually involved for over a year. The new study shows the factors making
the greatest contribution to the decline in overall 15- to 19-year-old
birth and pregnancy rates were an increase in abstinence and a decrease in
the percentage of married teens. In 1991, the teen birth-rate was 62 births
per 1,000 girls. By 1995, the rate had dropped to 50 births per 1,000
girls. The pregnancy rate per 1,000 girls dropped from 116 to 93 during
the same period.
"It is time for pro-condom advocacy groups to stop lying to the
public about the real reason we are seeing such a sharp decline
in teen birth and pregnancy rates," said Peter Brandt, Director
of Issues Response for Focus on the Family. "Abstinence has
always been the only sure-fire way to prevent pregnancy and teens are
proving they have outsmarted adults on this one. This study should be an
incentive to every member of Congress to vote for the most effective
prevention program for our teens - abstinence education."
The Welfare Reform Act of 1996, which included $50 million per
year for abstinence education, expired last year and its renewal
will be up for debate in Congress soon.
See the study and related documents in Adobe Acrobat format at:
http://www.physconsortium.com/pages/issues/afh_journal.shtml
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