ADVOCATES FOR YOUTH

Recent Decline in U.S. Teen Birth Rate Threatened

Advocates for Youth Warns Congress Could Be Barrier To Future Progress

WASHINGTON, DC (August 11, 2000) Citing recent findings on the reasons for the decline in U.S. teen birth rates by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Advocates for Youth's President, James Wagoner, warns that the misguided policies of Congress will be a barrier to continued progress in teen pregnancy prevention.

"The NCHS report reinforces what extensive research has already shown—abstinence-only-until-marriage education is not the answer. 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.

"With 80% of the recent decline in teen births due to increased use of contraception and 20% due to delayed sexual activity, the American public can no longer allow Congress to continue to ignore the research and fund abstinence-only-until-marriage programs that censor vital prevention information," continued Wagoner.

The American Medical Association (AMA), the American Nurses Association (ANA), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and more than 50 other medical and professional organizations all support comprehensive sexuality education. In fact, the AMA recently stated that "abstinence-only programs are of very limited value" and urged schools to "implement comprehensive, developmentally appropriate sexuality education programs" as part of an overall health education effort.

"While the decline in the teen birth rate throughout the 1990s is encouraging, the reality is that each year there are nearly half a million births to American teens. By supporting unrealistic abstinence-only-until-marriage programs and by eliminating effective prevention programs, members of Congress are threatening decades of progress," said Wagoner.

Wagoner calls on U.S. politicians to stop allowing the politics of a conservative minority to be put before the health and well-being of a generation of young people. "In the era of AIDS, we cannot afford, and should not be forced, to choose between encouraging abstinence and providing accurate sexuality information that could save our children's lives," concluded Wagoner.

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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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