Conservative states with higher pregnancy rates

[Sage Ninja]

http://www.everydayhealth.com/sexual...6pLid%3D133567

TUESDAY, Feb. 07, 2012 — 39.1 out of every 1,000 — that’s how many teenage girls gave birth in 2009 in the United States, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Compared to other industrialized countries, this number is pretty lofty: Live Science reports that in the United Kingdom, 24 out of every 1,000 teen girls gave birth that year, and only 4 out of every 1,000 had a baby in the Netherlands. But what about here in the United States — do birth rates vary state by state?

Yep, and research suggests that this may be the rule of thumb: The more conservative the state, the higher the teen birth rate. In a new Washington University study published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, researchers looked at the birth rates of girls aged 15 to 17 living in 24 states from 1997 to 2005. Interestingly, Arkansas (which was recently ranked as the 10th most conservative state in the nation by Gallup) had the highest teen birth rate (at 34.8 births per 1,000 teen girls). Texas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma (all above-average in conservatism) also rank high. However, New Hampshire, which tends to swing to the left, boasted the lowest rate during this time period (at 9.7).

While these stats may seem to contradict logic (conservative kids have less sex, right?), the researchers note a number of issues that could be at play — and it could have something to do with the states’ sex ed programs.

Is Unsatisfactory Sexual Education to Blame?
"State adolescent births vary widely, and these disparities across states should be acknowledged as a major public health concern," researcher Patricia Cavazos-Rehg, PhD, told Live Science.

While the researchers studied the birth rates for each state, they also looked at the state’s sexual education practices — whether schools taught things such as STD prevention and condom efficacy — as well as each state’s level of conservatism, religiosity, and abortion policies.

Not surprisingly, conservative states tend to take a more conservative stance on sex education — some still focusing on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs instead of sexuality-based programs (14 of the 16 southern states, which also tend to be the most conservative, continue to concentrate on abstinence programs, according to a 2010 report from the Sexuality Information and Education Council). “Our findings provide evidence that increased sexuality education within school curricula is associated with lower adolescent birthrates,” the researchers wrote.

However, right-swinging states’ sex ed programs may not be the only factor: The fact that these states are more conservative and tend to be more religious suggest that the rates may also be related to more conservative views on abortion. “Could it be that, despite sex education, girls in both conservative and liberal states are getting pregnant at about the same rate, and that the girls in Arkansas are carrying their babies to term, perhaps as a result of higher religiosity, a lack of access to abortion services, or both?” asks Live Science.

The researchers say they need to investigate further before they can answer that question absolutely — but that these findings can help shape decisions about education programs in the future. “Though it still remains unclear as to what 'truly effective' sex education is, what we now know is that any future evaluations of sex education must consider the effects of sociopolitical characteristics in comprehensive analyses," Cavazos-Rehg said.

well now, who da thunk it?

[Jester]

There's a difference between teen pregnancy rates and teen birth rates. Conservative states, like the second to last paragraph says, see abortion as more taboo, and thus the BIRTH RATE would probably be higher. To know if teen PREGNANCY rates were higher or lower we need pre-abortion figures.

Like the last paragraph says (and I love how it practically un-writes the article) more study is needed, with more accurate numbers.

[Type 97 Chi-ha]

Question-does sex education make any real difference in overall social behavior? Certainly you don't need to go to class to know that sex=babies, or about the existence of venereal diseases.

[Katie]

Oh boy


Wanna know why birth rates are high among teens in "conservative" states? It's not because our (yes I am a southerner and no I'm not a Republican) sex ed classes are biased or inadequate. Every dumb f*ck teen knows having sex can get you knocked up. It's because sex is something you don't discuss...and if you do ask you mother to put you on birth control you never hear the end of it.

Kids down here aren't freaks who think you gotta wait for marriage.....or don't know anything about sex... jesus, media.

[Jester]

I'd almost say that in some places, there ain't much to do. I know teens in my town just sit in parking lots...for fun.

I'm sure if that's one way kids "have fun" sex is probably high on the list of pass times, too.

[Barkworm]

I guess the sex "education" is a huge part of the problem.

[Jester]

Well it was a good run. So long thread. We barely knew ye.

[ToTheNines]

Kids like to hump. Whatcha gon' do?

[Leo656]

That's classic, TTN, I needed that laugh today. Wasn't expecting that.

[Jester]

Agreed when I first read that, I almost fell out.

[BubblyShell22]

Yeah, same here. I don't know what to make of the article. It sounds pretty inaccurate if it's stating that more study needs to be done. Maybe some of the sex ed programs don't focus on abortion, but I remember from my own school days that we were taught about abstinence and condoms. That was it. There was never talk about abortion either. Still, we learned a lot about STDs and what could happen if we acquired them. It was actually very informative, and I really liked the person who talked about it. She seemed very well-informed about it and mostly focused on STDs because she said that anyone could survive being pregnant.

[Candy Kappa]

we did not have a well informed sex-ed class.

I was scared for a long time that things where gonna rot and fall off due to being uncircumcised.

Gotta love fanatics doing sex-ed, and this wasn't a random lady doing those classes. It was our freaking regular teacher, never liked that woman.

[Redeemer]

Originally Posted by Sage Ninja

http://www.everydayhealth.com/sexual...6pLid%3D133567



well now, who da thunk it?

According to these statements the premise could also be made that Southeren States have higher pregnancy rates.

[gobo]

Oh, THAT kinda "conversative state"...

[Type 97 Chi-ha]

Originally Posted by gobo

Oh, THAT kinda "conversative state"...

Where they have lots of conversations...

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by Barkworm

I guess the sex "education" is a huge part of the problem.

Spoiler:

"I don't have any proof it's better I just know it worked for me!". And that guy is a governor. Genius.

Reminds me a bit of this. Skip to around the end if you want to see the best quote. "You don't have to pass an IQ test to be in the senate."

[Jester]

Ahh, that's one of my senators. When I watched the movie, I face palmed.

But of course only southern politicians say incredibly stupid things, right?

Spoiler for possible to political:

Oh...and by the by, abstinence does work. It's abstinence only education that has issues. Though Perry's right...ish...he still sounds like an idiot because he doesn't realize the questioner is asking about teaching abstinence and not actually practicing it.

[pannoni1]

I'm not surprised, as people get married sooner in those states plus with less of an emphasis on career and urban life compared with other, more progressive states, leads to such a higher pregnancy rate. Gays are also more taboo in those states as well.

[Barkworm]

Originally Posted by Jester

Oh...and by the by, abstinence does work. It's abstinence only education that has issues. Though Perry's right...ish...he still sounds like an idiot because he doesn't realize the questioner is asking about teaching abstinence and not actually practicing it.

I'm sorry Jester, but saying abstinence works is like saying you'll never be in a car accident if you don't drive. Of course if you don't do something that has any risks to it, you'll be safe but for the vast majority of people it's not a satisfactory solution. In addition to that, it is only an option for extremely religious people because the reasoning behind it wouldn't make sense to anyone without a religious background.

[Jester]

Wanting to wait to have sex until you've met "The One" only makes sense from a religious stand point? It may be pushed harder in those circles, but I'm sure there are others outside the religious community who practice sexual abstinence until they are in a monogamous sexual relationship.