Teen Abortions, Birthrates Both Falling, U.S. Says
Fewer teenagers are having abortions, with rates dropping even faster than falling teen birthrates in nearly every state.
The combination pushed the teen pregnancy rate down coast to coast, the government said Thursday.
The report analyzed data from 42 states and the District of Columbia and found that pregnancy rates for females ages 15 to 19 dropped everywhere between 1992 and 1995. Abortion rates dropped in every reporting state but Maine, Ohio and Oregon.
Twenty-six states reported declines in abortion rates of 15% or higher, whereas just four states had birthrates that dropped so dramatically.
The report makes it clear that falling teen birthrates cannot be attributed to an increase in abortions. In fact, in every state that reports data, fewer teens are getting pregnant in the first place, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
The major reasons: less sex and greater use of birth control, officials said. Still, nearly 1 million teenage girls become pregnant each year, and more than 200,000 girls have abortions.
A pregnancy rate combines a state’s birth and abortion rates, along with an estimate of miscarriages and stillbirths.
Some large states--California, Illinois and Florida--do not track the pregnancy rate.
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