According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country’s teen birthrate was at its lowest in 2015, most probably because of the improved access of birth control.
In 1991 the teen birthrate hit an all-time high, but last year, the rate of live births per 1,000 teenage girls between the ages of 15 to 19 was decreased by 64%, so it was 22.3. The birthrate for girls aged 10 to 14, has dropped even more since 1991, or more precisely for about 90% which is really astounding.
Other reproductive health experts state that these statistics don’t mean that teenagers are having less intercourse than those in 1991. The researcher from the Guttmacher Institute, Isaac Maddow-Zimet, reported for STAT that over the past decade, there haven’t been much changes in the sexual activity among teenagers. Instead, there has been a steady rise in the use of contraception that prevented teenagers from becoming parents.
The historic barrier to the access to contraception by teenagers was finally broken by a shift in national policy. Nowadays, there’s a law which requires health insurers to cover the total cost of birth control devices and drugs in 28 states, 21 of which allow obtaining of these drugs without informing their parents. In some states, such as Think Progress, the insurers are obliged to offer supply of contraception for more than a year, as well as to cover the expenses for vasectomy.
As the representative from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, Bill Albert, Think Progress, our nation has made an astounding, off-the chart accomplishment on pressing almost “unsolvable” social issue.
Via Stat
