Teens waiting longer and longer to be sexually active.

[Stan]

http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-teen-girls-delay-sex-20120404,0,7668872.story

By Eryn Brown, Los Angeles Times / For the Booster Shots blog

May 4, 2012, 12:55 p.m.

Teenage girls in the United States are waiting longer to begin having sex — and using more dependable forms of birth control once they do become sexually active, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday.

New survey findings could shed light on why the birth rate among girls ages 15 to 19 in the U.S. has declined to record lows in recent years. In 2010, the teen birth rate was 34.3 births per thousand, with fewer babies born to teenage mothers than in any year since 1946, the CDC reported this April.

The new data were published Thursday in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and were compiled from National Survey of Family Growth surveys in 1995, 2002 and 2006-2010. The survey sample included males and females ages 15 to 44 and included questions about sexual activity and contraceptive use.

From 2006 to 2010, the CDC researchers reported in their article, 57% of females 15 to 19 had never had sex, up from 49% in 1995. When broken down among white, black and Latino girls, the proportion who remained virgins did not differ significantly among racial and ethnic groups. There were differences in experience when the data were sliced by age group. Among teens 15 to 17, 73% had not had sex; among older teenage girls, only 36% had not.

The girls who reported during the 2006-2010 survey cycle that they had had sex in the interview month were 26% more likely to have used a “highly effective” method of birth control such as an IUD or the pill than sexually active teenagers in 1995 had been, the researchers wrote. They were less likely to use “moderately effective” methods such as a condom alone.

In all, 59% of sexually active teens reported that they used a highly effective method (including 12% who used a condom as well), 16.3% depended on moderately effective methods, 6.1% used less-effective methods (such as rhythm method or withdrawal) and 17.9% used no contraception at all. White teens were more likely to use highly effective birth control than black and Latino teens. Black and Latino teens were more likely than whites to use no birth control at all.

Despite the good news, the teen birth rate in the U.S. remains one of the highest among industrialized countries, the CDC has reported

[olger]

I eagerly await the press release, "Teens Preserving Purity for Marriage."

g

[doug yowell]

I eagerly await the press release, "Teens Preserving Purity for Marriage."

g

Indeed.

[CoAspen]

Good New's.....the glass is filling!

[doug yowell]

Good New's.....the glass is filling!

That's also worth noting!

[Stan]

This generation of youth is the best ever.

[Naomi]

[Gail]

It would be a great thing if the reasoning was that the girls see themselves as special enough to grant the gift of themselves only to their one love.

But if it is motivated by the desire to get educated, etc, that is good, too.

I often feel that young people today have way more sense to them than I ever did!

[Dottie]

How does the number of births relate to the number of pregnancies, and the number of abortions?

[Bravus]

The earth is getting worse. Except when it's not.

And we were talking about virgins, Dottie, so abortion is kinda off-topic.

[Naomi]

The earth is getting worse. Except when it's not.

[LifeHiscost]

It just seems to depend upon where the information is coming from. Listening to a report from one individual whose name I can't remember, 50% of American young girls have sexual intercourse on the first date. And that seems to be verified by the number of abortions happening every (forgot) period of time, 14,000.

As I understand it, no nation has survived for very long after accepting infanticide as a societal norm.

God blesses!

[Stan]

The stats that are spread on how bad people are are usually, (sad to say) spread by preachers and not verified by sociologists or the CDC.

The CDC for has also stated that less than 1% of men are active gays, far less then the gay community proclaims. They really do not have a bias or an agenda.

[LifeHiscost]

Quote:

ANNUAL ABORTION STATISTICS

In 2008, approximately 1.21 million abortions took place in the U.S., down from an estimated 1.29 million in 2002, 1.31 million in 2000 and 1.36 million in 1996. From 1973 through 2008, nearly 50 million legal abortions have occurred in the U.S. (AGI).

In 2008, the highest number of reported abortions occurred in New York (124,867), NYC (89,469), Florida (86,817) and Texas (81,366); the fewest occurred in Wyoming (≤4), South Dakota (848), North Dakota (1,386), and Idaho (1,481) (CDC).

The 2008 abortion ratios by state ranged from a low of 59 abortions per 1,000 live births in Idaho (Wyoming had too few abortions for reliable tabulation) to a high of 732 abortions per 1,000 live births in NYC (CDC).

The annual number of legal induced abortions in the United States doubled between 1973 and 1979, and peaked in 1990. There was a slow but steady decline through the 1990's. Overall, the number of annual abortions decreased by 3.7% between 2000 and 2008, with temporary spikes in 2002 and 2006. (CDC)

In 1998, the last year for which estimates were made, more than 23% of legal induced abortions were performed in California (CDC).

In 2005, the abortion rate in the United States was higher than recent rates reported for Canada and Western European countries and lower than rates reported for China, Cuba, the majority of Eastern European countries, and certain Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union (CDC).

Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended; about 4 in 10 of these are terminated by abortion. Twenty-two percent of all U.S. pregnancies end in abortion. (AGI).

WHO HAS ABORTIONS?

In 2008, 84.3% of all abortions were performed on unmarried women (CDC).

Women between the ages of 20-24 obtained 33% of all abortions in 2008; women between 25-29 obtained 24% (CDC).

In 2008, women aged 20-29 years had the highest abortion rates (29.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 20-24 years and 21.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 25-29 years) (CDC).

50% of U.S. women obtaining abortions are younger than 25; women aged 20-24 obtain 33% of all U.S. abortions and teenagers obtain 17% (AGI).

In 2008, adolescents under 15 years obtained .05% of all abortions, but had the highest abortion ratio, 821 abortions for every 1,000 live births (CDC).

47% of women who have abortions had at least one previous abortion (AGI).

Black women are more than 4.8 times more likely than non-Hispanic white women to have an abortion, and Hispanic women are 2.7 times as likely (AGI).

37% of women obtaining abortions identify themselves as Protestant, and 28% identify themselves as Catholic (AGI).

At current rates, nearly one-third of American women will have an abortion (AGI).

WHY ARE ABORTIONS PERFORMED?

On average, women give at least 3 reasons for choosing abortion: 3/4 say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities; about 3/4 say they cannot afford a child; and 1/2 say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner (AGI).

WHEN DO ABORTIONS OCCUR?

88-92% of all abortions happen during the first trimester, prior to the 13th week of gestation (AGI/CDC).

In 2008, 7.3% of all abortions were performed at 14-20 weeks' gestation; 1.3% were performed at ≥21 weeks' gestation (CDC).

Percentage of 2008 Reported Abortions by Weeks of Gestation* (CDC):

≤6 wks 7 wks 8 wks 9 wks 10 wks 11 wks 12 wks 13 wks 14-15 wks 16-17 wks 18-20 wks ≥21 wks

30.7% 18.1% 14.0% 9.6% 6.8% 5.3% 4.0% 2.9% 3.5% 2.0% 1.9% 1.3%

*Gestational weeks are measured from the first day of the woman's last menstruation and not from the day of conception. Though it does not provide an accurate fetal age (which is roughly 2 weeks less than the gestational age), it is the simplest way for an OB/GYN to age a pregnancy since the day of conception is often not known. Hence, if an abortion occurs at 8 weeks gestation, it is actually aborting a 6 week embryo. The images on our Prenatal Development and Abortion Pictures pages are more precisely captioned with fetal ages in accordance with standard teaching texts on prenatal development.

HOW ARE ABORTIONS PERFORMED?

In 2007, 84.4% of abortions were performed by curettage (which includes dilatation and evacuation [D&E]). Most curettage abortions are suction procedures (CDC).

Medical abortions made up approximately 14.6% of all abortions reported (CDC).

WHO IS PERFORMING ABORTIONS?

The number of abortion providers declined by 11% between 1996 and 2000 (from 2,042 to 1,819). It declined another 2% between 2000 and 2005 (from 1,819 to 1,787) It has remained stable between 2005 and 2008 (1,787 to 1,793). (AGI).

Forty-two percent of providers offer very early abortions (during the first four weeks’ gestation) and 95% offer abortion at eight weeks. Sixty-four percent of providers offer at least some second-trimester abortion services (13 weeks or later), and 20% offer abortion after 20 weeks. Eleven percent of all abortion providers offer abortions past 24 weeks (AGI).

ABORTION FATALITY

In 2007, 6 women died as a result of complications from known legal induced abortion (CDC).

The number of deaths attributable to legal induced abortion was highest before the 1980s (CDC).

In 1972 (the year before abortion was federally legalized), a total of 24 women died from causes known to be associated with legal abortions, and 39 died as a result of known illegal abortions (CDC).

THE COST OF ABORTION

In 2009, the average cost of a nonhospital abortion with local anesthesia at 10 weeks of gestation was $451 (AGI).

MEDICAL ABORTION

In 2005, 57% of abortion providers, or 1,026 facilities, provided one or more types of medical abortions, a 70% increase from the first half of 2001. At least 10% of nonhospital abortion providers offer only medication abortion services (AGI).

In 2005, an estimated 161,100 early medication abortions were performed in nonhospital facilities (AGI).

Medication abortion accounted for 17% of all abortions in 2008 (AGI).

ABORTION AND CONTRACEPTION

Induced abortions usually result from unintended pregnancies, which often occur despite the use of contraception (CDC).

54% of women having abortions used a contraceptive method during the month they became pregnant. Among those women, 76% of pill users and 49% of condom users reported using the methods inconsistently, while 13% of pill users and 14% of condom users reported correct use (AGI).

8% of women having abortions have never used a method of birth control (AGI).

9 in 10 women at risk of unintended pregnancy are using a contraceptive method (AGI).

ABORTION AND MINORS

40% of minors having an abortion report that neither of their parents knew about the abortion (AGI).

35 states currently enforce parental consent or notification laws for minors seeking an abortion: AL, AR, AZ, CO, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI , MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WI, WV, and WY. The Supreme Court ruled that minors must have the alternative of seeking a court order authorizing the procedure (AGI).

ABORTION AND PUBLIC FUNDS

The U.S. Congress has barred the use of federal Medicaid funds to pay for abortions, except when the woman's life would be endangered by a full-term pregnancy or in cases of rape or incest (AGI).

17 states (AK, AZ, CA, CT, HI, IL, MA, MD, MN, MT, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA and WV) do use public funds to pay for abortions for some poor women. About 14% of all abortions in the United States are paid

Makes one weep.

"if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

2 Chron 7:14 NKJV

God blesses!

[Stan]

Interesting real stats there.

The said 37 people died from abortions before it was made legal. That is an interesting statement, I was told once by some pro abortionist that is was in the thousands.

[Naomi]

If the abortion was performed illegally, do we really believe all deaths and other life-long complications were reported?

I remember the days when they were not legal, cloths hangers, back alley butchers, intentional injuries to the belly area, etc.

Certainly I am not suggesting that anyone have an abortion for convenience sake, but as with any other issue you Can NOT legislate morality. God tried; He gave us only 10 laws to live by ... ....

[doug yowell]

This generation of youth is the best ever.

Ever?

[doug yowell]

The earth is getting worse. Except when it's not.

And we were talking about virgins, Dottie, so abortion is kinda off-topic.

Only if the topic is off the topic that the article focuses on.Did you read it,Brav? Almost nothing said about virginity. Noting that the rise in virginity occurred in the 15-17 age bracket (73%) and then plummeted (36%)in the 18 and 19 year old group.More space focused on the use of birth control than reasons why the young girls waited.

[doug yowell]

How does the number of births relate to the number of pregnancies, and the number of abortions?

Very good question,Dottie. The article is a hodgepodge of stats and figures which are somewhat misleading and leave out a lot of clarifying information.The lumping in of 15-19 year olds is only indicative of girls waiting until they are 17 or 18 to have sex instead of ?? Teenage live births are down but are the stats on teenage abortions related to that figure? Isn't that an important statistic? Why are they down? Why no info on the pregnancy rate if the birth rate is so important?

[doug yowell]

Important stats,LHC.Thanks.

[doug yowell]

Interesting real stats there.

The said 37 people died from abortions before it was made legal. That is an interesting statement, I was told once by some pro abortionist that is was in the thousands.

That's right ,Stan. The thousands statistic often used is just another one of the lies created by pro-abortion activists. Dr. Bernard Nathanson was one of the leading proponents of the abortion on demand movement (claimed to have performed over 10,000 abortions)until he was moved by his conscience to work to save lives. He reports the factual stats that the Supreme Court was not made privey to in 1972.Most "back alley" abortions were done (illegally) by licenced physicians. No wonder the death rate was not in the thousands.Yet, there IS still a death rate for legally performed abortions today.And the old lie of thousands of coat hanger (who would actually use a coat hanger when one could find a black market Dr. that would do the job??)deaths has yet to be aborted.

[doug yowell]

but as with any other issue you Can NOT legislate morality. God tried; He gave us only 10 laws to live by ... ....

And if we break those laws.....? Laws are needed to hinder the progress of evil not to make perfect people. Laws are intended to reveal to society what is and is not morally acceptable behaviour.Laws are created because of sinners and evil people and the protection of the good in society.In fact, the anti-Christ is also named the "lawless one" in Scripture. Any coincidence?

[LifeHiscost]

Quote:

The said 37 people died from abortions

That would of course, exclude the little people who were sliced, punctured, sucked, decapitated, or asundry other methods employed for the extinguishing of their lives. If God could say of David, "from the womb I knew you", would that not define a person in progress, as I'm thinking we all are, whatever the age.

God blesses!

[olger]

"Sexually active" is such a misleading term. I'm sexually active. I hope every one who is married, is.

[Stan]

Well, I want to cheer for those who hold off, it is not easy, especially when people do not believe you and are not supportive.