State-by-State Teen Birth Rates Released

The latest report indicates that Mississippi has the highest teen birth rate in the nation, while New Hampshire boasts the lowest.  New England birth rates are generally lower than those of Southern states, but the nation as a whole saw an increase from previous years.  This has, of course, prompted comprehensive sex-ed proponents to blame abstinence-only programs, and vice versa.

I have no doubt that sex ed is a factor.  What everyone seems to be missing here, however, is that these are teen BIRTH rates, not teen pregnancy rates.  We therefore have to factor in programs that may decrease abortion and miscarriage rates among pregnant teens.  When you take pro-life pregnancy centers and clinics into account, the numbers make a lot of sense.  Pregnancy centers are most common in rural areas, while abortion businesses target urban neighborhoods.

Until the teen pregnancy rates are released, nobody will be able to tell whether the increased birthrate is due to lack of contraception, or intervention after conception has occured.  My theory is that it’s a combination of both.

Just one last thought, on this quote:

A variety of factors influence teen pregnancy rates, including culture, poverty and racial demographics. For those and other reasons, kids in mostly white New England likely would delay child birth, said David Landry, a researcher at the Guttmacher Institute, a New York-based organization which supports abortion rights and gathers research on sexual and reproductive health.

“It’s more costly for youth in the Northeast to have a teen birth than for youth in the South, in terms of opportunities they’ll miss,” he said.

First, they came right out and said that it’s an abortion rights organization!  There’s a refreshing breeze of honesty.  Second, the whole “missed opportunities” thing strikes me as ridiculous.  As if anyone would say to herself “Oh well, I’m stuck in this dirty redneck town, I guess I’ve got nothing to lose.  How about we go have some unprotected intercourse?  Whaddaya say, Billy Jo?”