New CDC Report Shows Alarming Increase in Nation’s Teen-Pregnancy Rate
On Wednesday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report showing that the U.S. teen-pregnancy rate increased for the first time in 15 years. The report also shows that the largest rate increase was among African-American teens. The growing number of teen pregnancies is yet another indictment of the ineffective and dangerous “abstinence-only” programs backed by President Bush. As noted above, Congress is currently considering next year’s funding levels for these programs, which censor information about contraception. “As a former teacher and state superintendent of education, I am outraged,” said NARAL Pro-Choice America President Nancy Keenan in response to the new data. “I hope lawmakers see this report and understand why we need to stop funding Bush’s so-called ‘abstinence-only’ programs. We should focus on ways to improve family communication and ensure that our teens get medically accurate, age-appropriate sex education in the classroom.” Over the past decade, Congress and President Bush have spent more than $1 billion in taxpayer dollars on unproven “abstinence-only” programs while no federal program is dedicated to honest sex education. This huge expenditure of taxpayer funds in discredited programs is disturbing from a public-health standpoint and conflicts starkly with the best scientific and medical research. Responsible sex-education programs, on the other hand, have demonstrated positive results such as delayed initiation of sex, reduced frequency of sex, and increased contraceptive use.
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