Feb 22, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Over 10 years, the U.S. teen pregnancy and abortion rates have dropped and teen virginity has increased, reports the Abstinence Clearinghouse, citing three separate studies.
The first study, released by the Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), indicates that there was an overall decline of 28 percent in the teenage pregnancy rate for women between the ages of 15 and 19, from 1990 to 2000. In 2000, 83.6 in 1,000 women in this age group became pregnant compared with 116.9 per 1,000 women in 1990.
According to AGI, declines occurred in all racial and ethnic groups. The rate among black adolescents declined 32 percent to 153 per 1,000 women. Among white teenagers, it declined 28 percent to 71 per 1,000. Among Hispanic teens, it fell 15 percent to 139 per 1,000.
Teen pregnancy rates in 2000 varied widely by state, ranging from 42 per 1,000 women in North Dakota to 128 per 1,000 in the District of Columbia, AGI reported.