Teen Birth Rate Hits Record Low in 2009, Abstinence Credited
The teen birth rate hit record low levels in 2009 according to a new report issued by the National Center for Health Statistics.
Among girls between the ages of 15 and 19, the birth rate fell to 39.1 births per 1,000 teens in 2009, which is the most recent year for which statistics are available. That’s the lowest level in 70 years, the Center indicates and a 6 percent decline from the 2008 level and the second year in a row that teen birth rates fell.
The numbers are also down 16 out of the last 18 years — though the question becomes one of why the rates are falling, whether the downturn in the has something to do with it or whether abstinence education or promotion of birth control and contraception is the main factor.
Valerie Huber of the National Abstinence Education Association says abstinence is the leading cause for the decline. Full story at LifeNews.com
