Teenage Pregnancy: Prevention, Abortion, and Help

Teenage Pregnancy: Prevention, Abortion, and Help

Alvin Sherman Library 4009

Sexual activity among the teenage population has become the norm rather than the exception. The problem not only concerns individual teenagers but their babies and their families, as well. This project seeks to provide information regarding teen pregnancies and to evaluate programs and policies that could help prevent teenage pregnancy by informing teens of the choices they can make. The importance of education and contraceptive use to prevent teen pregnancy is stressed. Statistics will help place the problem in perspective. For example, each year, almost 1 million teenage women--10% of all women aged 15-19 and 19% of those who have had sexual intercourse--become pregnant. Another 78% of teen pregnancies are unplanned, accounting for about 1/4 of all accidental pregnancies annually. More than half (56%) of the 905,000 teenage pregnancies in 1996 ended in births (2/3 of which were unplanned). Abortion is also touched upon because so many young women resort to this practice. In fact, nearly 4 in 10 teen pregnancies (excluding those ending in miscarriages) are terminated by abortion. There were about 274,000 abortions among teens in 1996. We will present two sides of the abortion issue to illuminate the different points of view in our society. It is evident that an effective method of intervention is necessary and teens should know that help is obtainable from various sources, such as the Internet, Planned Parenthood clinics, and even on telephone hotlines.