FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: |
CONTACT:
|
Bill
Barker |
| July 13, 2000 |
|
(202) 419-3420 |
New Report
Finds Teen Pregnancy on the Decline
Advocates for Youth Warns Congress
Could be Barrier To Future Progress the Classroom
WASHINGTON, DC (July 13, 2000) Citing new findings on the
decline in pregnancy among U.S. teens by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
Advocates for Youth President, James Wagoner, highlights
the critical role of comprehensive sexuality education in
preventing pregnancy.
"The CDC report reinforces what extensive research
has already shown, that comprehensive sexuality education—which
provides information about both abstinence and contraception—is
the most effective sex education for young people because
it causes them to delay sexual activity and to use protection
correctly and consistently when they do become sexually active," said
Wagoner.
That is why Wagoner finds the current Congressional trend
of funding abstinence-only-until-marriage
education—education that censors information about
contraception for the prevention of pregnancy and disease—particularly
disturbing.
"While the decline in teen pregnancy throughout the
1990s is encouraging, the reality is that more than 800,000
teens become pregnant each year in the U.S. By denying American
young people the tools to act responsibly, conservative members
of Congress are threatening a decade's worth of progress," said
Wagoner.
"Despite the research that shows that comprehensive
sexuality education works, despite CDC findings that show
that more sexually active teens are protecting themselves
from pregnancy, Congress is still denying young people critical
information about contraception that could protect their
health and save their lives," said Wagoner
Wagoner calls on U.S. politicians to stop allowing their
political agendas to censor sexuality information from teens. "With
80% of the recent decline in teen pregnancy due to increased
use of contraception and 20% due to delayed sexual activity,
U.S. politicians must put politics aside and follow the research.
And the research is clear. Young people need information
about abstinence and contraception. It's not either/or—they
need both," concluded Wagoner.
###
Note
to Editors and Producers: For more information
or to set up an interview with adolescent sexuality experts,
please contact Bill Barker at (202) 419-3420.
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