Teen Birth Rate Rises after 14-Year Decline

IFRL Daily News

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Teen Birth Rate Rises after 14-Year Decline

Report bolsters case for abstinence education.

Teen births are rising for the first time in 14 years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports birth rates for 15- to 19-year-old girls plunged 34 percent between 1991 and 2005. In 2006, the rate rose 3 percent.

It’s difficult to pinpoint the cause. But Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association, said she knows where to begin: “We need to address the core issue, and that is how do we provide the skills and the motivation for teens to avoid all forms of sexual activity?"

Huber said the numbers should prompt support for proven abstinence-until-marriage education.

“Teens who are engaged in an abstinence-education program are about half as likely to begin sex as those who are not,” she said, citing an article scheduled to be published in January.

Linda Klepacki, sexual health analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said she hopes lawmakers read up.

“We continue to support the really good measures that are helping kids to remain abstinent until marriage," she said.

Source: Family News in Focus

Publish Date: December 7, 2007