Teen Pregnancy: Bogus Problems, Bogus Solutions

Regarding Abstinence Education, in a Jan. 27 report from Washington, D.C., Heritage Foundation Senior Research Fellow Robert Rector said:

"The Guttmacher Institute recently released a report raising alarm over a one-year increase in teen pregnancy. "Safe sex" experts quickly pinned the blame on abstinence education.

Interesting, the decade after the federal government began its meager funding of abstinence education, teen pregnancy fell steadily. Safe-sex experts never linked the decline to abstinence education. But when the news went bad, they swiftly identified abstinence programs as the culprit.

But did teen pregnancy actually rise in 2006, as Guttmacher claims? It depends on what you mean by "teen." For most people, "teen pregnancy" implies pregnancy among high school girls under age 18. According to Guttmacher's own data, the pregnancy rate for 15-17-year old girls barely changed, and the rate for girls 14 and under (the group most affected by abstinence programs) actually dropped.

By contrast, the pregnancy and birth rates for young adult women aged 18 and 19 rose sharply.

The rise in pregnancy and birth in this age range is part of a much larger story: the collapse of marriage and explosive growth of out-of-wedlock births in lower income communities.

Between 1997-2007 very few non-martial births in comparison occurred to minor girls; most were to less-educated young adult women aged 18-26. In the grand scheme of things, the issue of "teen" pregnancy is dwarfed by its much larger cousin, the disintegration of marriage. Marital collapse is a catastrophe for taxpayers and society in general; the welfare costs alone exceed $250 billion per year. Of the 1.7 million children born out of wedlock in 2007, only 136,000 (or 7%) had mothers under the age of 18.

I believe the Left hypes "teen pregnancy" to support their agenda of condom promotion and permissive sex education in the public schools. When lower income men and women were surveyed about access to condoms and prevention methods very few stated the reason for pregnancy as lack of access to birth control."

Why do organizations like Oklahoma Family Policy Council stay committed to the message of abstinence? We believe it's good public policy, it's 100% safe, and it's the best message for our teens. The K.E.E.P. (Kids Eagerly Endorsing Purity) Program is alive and advancing the cause of healthy choices among teens. Saying no to sex before marriage and no to drugs and alcohol is a right message for teens today. True abstinence is the message parents 91% of parents want schools to teach their child (according to a Zogby poll).

Mike Jestes, Executive Director
Oklahoma Family Policy Council