January 27, 2010 US Teen Pregnancy Rate Increases After a Decade-Long Decline For the first time since the early 1990s, overall rates of pregnancy and birth among teens has increased, according to a report released yesterday by the Guttmacher Institute.  The pregnancy rate among girls aged 15 – 19 rose by 3 percent between 2005 and 2006, reflecting increases in teen birth and abortion rates of 4% and 1%, respectively. “It is too soon to tell whether the increase in the teen pregnancy rate between 2005 and 2006 is a short term fluctuation, a more lasting stabilization or the beginning of a significant new trend, any of which would be of great concern,” said Lawrence Finer, Guttmacher’s director of domestic research. The teen pregnancy rate declined 41% between its peak, in 1990 and 2005, which also resulted in declines in teen births and abortions.  Researchers attribute the significant drop to better use of contraceptives among sexually active teens.  This reversal in teen pregnancy rates coincides with the introduction of abstinence-only sexual education programs that prohibited the discussion of the benefits of contraception.  The Obama Administration’s 2010 budget has eliminated funding for abstinence-only programs and shifted it to pregnancy prevention initiatives that are age-appropriate, medically accurate and evidence-based.    See also: Guttmacher Institute Report: US Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions: National and State Trends and Trends by Race and Ethnicity Guttmacher Institute News Release: Following Decade-Long Decline, US Teen Pregnancy Rate Increases as Both Births and Abortions Rise Teen Pregnancy Rate on the Rise: Statement from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy

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