Teen pregancy and the culture wars

The CDC stats on teen pregnancy were alarming, going up in more than half the states for the year 2006. This was the first rise in 14 years. The new leader? Mississippi! Followed by New Mexico and Texas. This hit close to home: I don't think it is related to my family, but I can't deny that my parents live in Texas and have cabins in the mountains of New Mexico and the bottoms of Mississippi.

So what is happening in these states? New Mexico and Texas have always been at the top each year, and this year showed rates of 64.1 and 63.1 teen births, respectively, per 1,000 births. But Mississippi? It's rate was a 4 points ahead at 68.4 teen births. Many in the mainstream media are pointing to these state's high population of minorities (hispanic and African American), whose teen birth rates are higher. Others are pointing to the federal funding of abstinence-only education ushered in by the Bush Administration. Just search on Google News using "teen pregnancy" as terms.

The Perfect Storm

But there is more that combined with the above creates the perfect storm to see this increase. The schools in Mississippi are not required to teach sex education, and if they do, they are required to heavily stress " abstinence-until-marriage, including “the likely negative psychological and physical effects of not abstaining” and “that abstinence from sexual activity before marriage, and fidelity within marriage, is the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually-transmitted diseases and related health problems.” Additionally, if a school is brave enough to educate about contraceptives, state law requires that they stress the failure rates of using contraceptives, and specifically outlaw any demonstrations on proper contraceptive use. And the schools do have an option of teaching sex education without mention of abstinence if a majority of the school board in that district approves. How often do you think that happens? And that wouldn't be prudent anyway as abstinence should be taught along with everything else.

Texas doesn't require sex education, but if a district chooses to, it is heavily abstinence-based. New Mexico is not required to teach sex education, but does have to teach about HIV and related issues. Teachers have to stress abstinence in teaching about sexually transmitted diseases, and have to show learning outcomes that test "refusal skills."

Compare that with the state with the lowest birth rate among teens: New Hampshire. The schools are required to teach sex education from elementary school on.

Additionally, the news last week that the so-called "virginity pledge" campaigns actually backfire: The teens that take them are just as likely to have sex, and are more unprepared with contraceptives when that "moment" occurs. The thinking goes that if you have a condom or are on the pill, then you're not taking the virginity pledge seriously.

If this country is in a culture war, and I believe it is to an extent, the data seem to suggest that the more the Religious Right gets their policies in place, the more we all seem to suffer -- even the Religious Right. You might want to know that the largest one-year increase for teen births was not in the continental U.S.: Bristol Palin's Alaska jumped 19 percent from 2005. Bristol, as we all know so well, was reared in an abstinence-only household.

And what about those "liberal" states and districts? California's teen birth rate for the past 10 years had a 47 percent decline. Washington, D.C.? Down 42 percent in the last ten years. We've already mentioned New Hampshire. The entire Northeast has the lowest teen births in the country.

If this country is to progress, soon-to-be President Obama has to lead us through these culture wars, get some of the archaic laws off the books, and appoint federal judges that will value freedom and responsibility. Our children deserve a real chance to lead happy and healthy lives.