i'll just bet alaska is one of them states... i say make all those PRO-LIFERS pay since they want to ban abortion, they should just ban imported adoption untill there are no UN-WANTED children and foster children in america

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Um. Wow. Could you be more snarky about it? That's quite a bit of "abstinence-only" bashing you're doing there. It is really very naive to assume that any one thing or idea is the sole (or even primary) source of an epidemic like teen pregnancy. And then to back it up the assumption with no facts whatsoever...? I personally believe that a comprehensive education is the best. Kids are going to be sexually active IF they want to be, and we should give them the tools to make the right decision and be wise about it. However, if there are people out there who are optimistic about abstinence, I'm not going to blame them for a much larger problem that existed before abstinence-only education ever became a reality. I happen to know a number of teenagers who have chosen abstinence - girls AND boys. It is not a foregone conclusion that every teenager everywhere is having sex. I agree with you that it is the parents' responsibility to inform their kids about sex, but your logic about the abstinence-only stuff is a little skewed. How about the lowering of general American morale that stems from a flagging economy? Or the fact that most teenagers have a horribly warped concept of body-image and self-esteem, and see sex (and pregnancy, as in the case in Massachusettes) as something they automatically have to do to fit in or feel better about themselves? You mentioned that the previous most dramatic rise in teen fertility was in 1971. Do you recall what sexual revolution happened shortly before that year? Here's a hint - it had absolutely nothing to do with promoting abstinence.

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Maybe someone should teach kids (and plenty of adults, by the looks of things) that having sex results in babies. Let them know that the whole purpose of sex is to make babies. Sure, it's fun and it brings a couple close, but the reason behind all of that fun and closeness is babies.

You can run from it and you can hide from it. There are plenty of options for birth control, designed to prevent pregnancy. Every single one of them has a failure rate ("And by heavens, give him or her a condom!"...good advice, Grandma!). That failure can be picked up by abortion, but that's hardly a good solution.

The problem is that most people today don't really know that sex leads to babies. Maybe they 'know' it, but they certainly don't act like they *believe* it.

I came across this the other day:
When women accept the "truth" that sex only has as much meaning as they want it to, that it is not inherently a sacred and tremendously powerful act, they are set up for disaster.
http://insidecatholic.com/Joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5186&Itemid=48

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One might also say that even though they are choosing to be sexually active, the teens are choosing life as opposed to abortion/death for their baby, therefore increasing the number of live births. Whoever says kids in our culture aren't learning about sex must have their head in the sand, b/c sex is everywhere in our culture---tv, music, movies, books--you can't get away from it.....keep telling yourself that we need to teach them more---that lie has been perpetuated for years, and has proven to be ineffective---children are getting plenty of sex ed in our schools. Kudos to any teen who has the strength and courage to avoid pre-marital sex and its consequences of pregnancy and std's---and kudos to those teens who do end up pregnant as a consequence of choosing to have pre-marital sex---and have the courage to choose life for their babies, rather than death.

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"One could argue that refusing to teach teens about birth control and provide them with contraception might have something to do with it."

One could also argue that telling kids that it's ok to have sex "when you feel ready" and that no one else can tell them when they are or are not ready might also have something to do with it. Perhaps a whole lotta something.

(Isn't an edited entry supposed to have a little snippet noting the change?)

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Looks like the Liberal sex education just doesn't work.
But the Liberal Media, television, Hollywood, and the Music industry are also responsible.


Just flip through AOL and you will see what they think is important.

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Any place you have high population of promiscuous teenage wenches and mostly irresponsible black bucks you will have a much higher illigitimate birth rate. Much, much, higher.

From the FBI: Black males age 14 - 35, commit 56.6% of all violent crime in America while they comprise less than 3.5% of the population, and contribute less than 1/10 of 1% to the gross national product.

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I was a teen mom, as was my sister and many others that I know. Some teens accept and customize their lives to love and nuture a child, some do nothing of the sort. I stayed in school, received my diploma and worked to support my son, my sister dropped out, didn't work, and popped out her second 15 months later. She is a good mother now (15 years later) but she totally fouled up the first 10 years of their lives. People cannot say it is because of the parents because my parents were very strict, maybe too strict, but we found ways to do what we wanted any how. The most important part of raising children is letting them know they can come to you when something isn't going as planned, helping through that time and doing so without enabling bad decisions. Support the pregnancy without giving them the option to "dump" the kids whenever they feel like it. You have to force a child into responsibility so they know it is not something you can just walk away from.

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I have not heard of any area that teaches abstinance only. Abstinance may be tought as the best answer, for good reason, but teens know about birth control. They just don't use it.

Instead of attacking the schools and education, which are anything but the problem, start attacking television and movies, glamorizing teen sex and making it seem the norm. Teens think that being a 15 year old virgin means there is something wrong with them. Let's get more healthy in what we promote and change the culture. No good comes from teen sex, unless you count low self esteme issues, pregnancy, stds, HIV, etc. as good things.

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Please. Our children are not receiving abstinence only sex education! The reason that our children are out there having sex and making babies is because we are failing them! I have a 12 year old daughter who is the ONLY kid in her class that is limited to what she is allowed to watch, listen to, and read. She has friends who are watching show like “a double shot at love” or its predecessor “a shot at love with Tilla Tequila” where monogamy and safe sex are thrown out the window for as much of an orgy as you can show on TV. We are telling our girls that their net worth is their “ASSets”. Our young women are being told that being bi is the way to get boys to notice them. Our future women are being told that the end all beat all of existence is being sexy and having men fall all over them selves trying to get with them. Meanwhile we are teaching our boys that they need to be players. “Don’t hate the player, hate the game!”. Our young men are being told that having multiple girlfriends and sex partners is something to achieve, not avoid. Our future men are being taught that having a bunch of “baby mammas” is something glorious, kind of like a modern day harem! Women sitting back letting the fathers of their children drop by to visit and see the kids and oh by the way, make a “booty call”. I am not trying to pick on anyone. I am only calling it like too many are afraid to. I am a “baby momma”. I escaped that all too dramatic and counter productive life. My number one priority in life is to make sure that my daughter gets the direction and guidance that I and so many other women didn’t have because society was too busy making money off of sexual liberation to realize the chains that they were actually putting around our ankles! There is a reason some things are taboo or have a stigma attached to them. It is because they are counterproductive or dangerous behavior. There is nothing wrong with teaching right and wrong, teaching children how to be moral, upstanding members of society! We don’t do this by saying that “oh, children are going to have sex anyway so let’s just make sure they are protected”. I am very pro life and I think that if there were less access to abortion and more consequences for your actions their might be a bit of a decline in teen pregnancy. Wake up! Let’s not keep rewarding poor behavior and punishing good! We are now doing it in the financial sector too! If you are irresponsible and took out a loan that you had no business taking, then we are going to solve your problems but if you do things the right way and pay your bills and act responsibly we are going to make you pay for all those who don’t!!!

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I noticed this report and the thing that strikes me is the vast majority of these states is that they are the so called "family values" populations that the conservatives just love. So much for "abstinence only" education.

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My husband has a rather drastic method to end all out of wedlock pregnancies. Deny illegitimate children civil rights. No right to vote, no right to inheritance, no right to own property. I told him that was cruel and inhuman to punish a person who had no ability to control what his parents were doing, but he said "You know how many people would think twice before behaving irresponsibly? Maybe they'd find the time to think about the consequences of their actions if they knew what the end result would mean." I think the biggest problem is culture and peer pressure. Too many teens think that sex is a right of passage. It's not cool to be a virgin. When my son was about 12 he started to ask about the facts of life. I told him sex was a wonderful thing between two consenting, caring adults. It was not about having a good time free for all. With freedom comes responsibility. If you cannot bear the consequences, then wait until you are old enough and ready to handle it.

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I wonder if "Juno" had anything to do with it. Because I also noticed that PP had to lay off quite a few employees reecently. The claim is that Madoff is the reason, but is business down at PP? I also noticed, pulling apart the numbers, that the great majority of teen moms are 18 and 19 years old. Err, what's wrong with adult women exercising their reproductive rights? Is it that you don't like their CHOICE?

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...Their "reproductive rights"? Are you kidding me? Are you trying to say that 18 and 19 year olds are making an informed decision to get pregnant simply as a political statement? Hmmm... Sorry sweetie - it's not an informed choice unless they have all the information. And our society and education system do not prepare teens to raise kids. At 18 or 19 they are old enough to make their own decision, but that doesn't mean they're ready to have kids. The ever-increasing number of older adults raising their grandkids can testify to that. Regardless, I think most of us consider "teen pregnancy" to be those kids who are still in high school & have not yet achieved their own independence, let alone enough autonomy to have & raise a child.

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