According to the Times, the teenage birth rate rose for the first time since 1991 in 2007.
The graph provided by the Times shows the remarkable progress that was made throughout the 1990's and early 2000's on reducing teenage pregnancies. The part that specifically stuck out to me was the sharp decline (by about 50%) in the birth rate for black teenage girls in the last 20 years.
This should remind us that sex education and access to contraceptives are issues that the Republican Party is fundamentally wrong on. The "abstinence only" policy pursued by the Bush administration is at odds not just with reality but with American public opinion.
Still, the administration has plenty of powerful apologists:
"Robert Rector, a senior research fellow with the Heritage Foundation, said that blaming abstinence-only programs was “stupid.” Mr. Rector said that most young women who became pregnant were highly educated about contraceptives but wanted to have babies."
What country does he live in?
The graph provided by the Times shows the remarkable progress that was made throughout the 1990's and early 2000's on reducing teenage pregnancies. The part that specifically stuck out to me was the sharp decline (by about 50%) in the birth rate for black teenage girls in the last 20 years.
This should remind us that sex education and access to contraceptives are issues that the Republican Party is fundamentally wrong on. The "abstinence only" policy pursued by the Bush administration is at odds not just with reality but with American public opinion.
Still, the administration has plenty of powerful apologists:
"Robert Rector, a senior research fellow with the Heritage Foundation, said that blaming abstinence-only programs was “stupid.” Mr. Rector said that most young women who became pregnant were highly educated about contraceptives but wanted to have babies."
What country does he live in?
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