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Birth Rate Drops for Teenage Girls

The birth rate for teenagers fell for the seventh year according to a report issued Monday by the National Center for Health Statistics, a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services. According to the NCHS study, the birth rate for teenage girls is the lowest since 1987. The national birth rate among 15-19 year olds dropped 18 percent since 1991. The teenage birth rate peaked in 1991 with a rate of 62.1 per 1,000 but began to decline and continued to drop each year. Birth rates declined in every state, the District of Colombia, and the Virgin islands ranging from a high of 7.3 percent in Mississippi to a low 2.6 percent in Vermont.

According the Associated Press, more teens are using reliable forms of birth control, which has contributed to the decline in teenage birth rates. This emphasizes the importance of access to birth control and the availability of abortion to young people who are frequently among the first to be denied those rights.

Sources:

AP - October 26, 1999 and National Vital Statistics Reports, Volume 47, Number 26

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