Phil, What a shame the subject being discussed is teen birth rates.
On Jan 9, 12:35 pm, Philobealo <[email protected]> wrote: > Blue States New Jersey & New York have highest teen abortion rate > Dems are probably proud of it. > > http://womensissues.about.com/od/datingandsex/a/TeenAbortRates.htm > > On Jan 9, 9:14 am, "damn I hate grits !" <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > > Abstinence-promoting Southern states have highest teen birth rate, > > according to > > CDChttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090107/ap_on_he_me/med_teen_births;_ylt=... > > … ATLANTA – Mississippi now has the nation's highest teen birth > > rate, > > displacing Texas and New Mexico for that lamentable title, a new > > federal report says. Mississippi's rate was more than 60 percent > > higher than the national average in 2006, according to new state > > statistics released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control > > and Prevention. The teen birth rate for that year in Texas and New > > Mexico was more than 50 percent higher. > > > The three states have large proportions of black and Hispanic > > teenagers — groups that traditionally have higher birth rates, > > experts > > noted. > > > The lowest teen birth rates continue to be in New England, where > > three > > states have rates at roughly half the national average, which is 42 > > births per 1,000 teen women. > > > It's not clear why Mississippi, with 68 births per 1,000, surged into > > first place. The state's one-year increase of nearly 1,000 teen > > births > > could be a statistical blip, said Ron Cossman, a Mississippi State > > University researcher who focuses on children's health statistics. > > > The New Mexico rate was 64 per 1,000; Texas was 63. New Hampshire, > > with a rate of 19 per 1,000, was the nation's lowest. > > > More than a year ago, a preliminary report on the 2006 data revealed > > that the U.S. teen birth rate had risen for the first time in about > > 15 > > years. But the new numbers provide the first state-by-state > > breakdown. > > > The new report is based on a review of all the birth certificates in > > 2006. Significant increases in teen birth rates were noted in 26 > > states. > > > "It's pretty much across the board" nationally, said Brady Hamilton, > > a > > CDC statistician who worked on the report. > > > About 435,000 of the nation's 4.3 million births in 2006 were to > > mothers ages 15 through 19. That was about 21,000 more teen births > > than in 2005. > > > Numerically, the largest increases were in the states with the > > largest > > populations. California, Texas and Florida together generated almost > > 30 percent of the nation's extra teen births in 2006. > > experts have blamed the national increase on increased federal > > funding for abstinence-only health education that does not teach > > teens > > how to use condoms and other contraception. They said that would > > explain why teen birth rate increases have been detected across much > > of the country and not just in a few spots. > > Other factors include the escalating cost of some types of birth > > control and their unavailability in some communities, said Stephanie > > Birch, who directs maternal and child health programs for the Alaska > > Department of Health and Social Services. > > > Glowing media portrayals of celebrity pregnancies don't help, either, > > she said. "They make it out to be very glamorous," said Birch, who > > cited a calculation by Alaska officials that teen births were up 6 > > percent in that state in 2006. > > > A variety of factors influence teen birth rates, including culture, > > poverty and racial demographics. For those and other reasons, kids in > > mostly white New England likely would delay child birth, said David > > Landry, a researcher at the Guttmacher Institute, a New York-based > > organization which supports abortion rights and gathers research on > > sexual and reproductive health. > > > "It's more costly for youth in the Northeast to have a teen birth > > than > > for youth in the South, in terms of opportunities they'll miss," he > > said. > > > ___ > > > On the Net: > > > CDC report:http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr57/nvsr57_07.pdf- Hide > > quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
