Washington, D.C. (27 January 2010) – New numbers from the group’s own Guttmacher Institute show Planned Parenthood-style sex education is having a dramatic impact on the rise in teen pregnancy rates.
The study released today shows that the teen pregnancy rate among American teens rose three percent in 2006, teen birth rates rose four percent, and abortion rates were up one percent.
While Planned Parenthood rushes to paint the devastating statistics as an indictment against the Bush administration’s abstinence policy, the timeline points to a different culprit: Planned Parenthood.
“This is not rocket science,” said Jim Sedlak, vice president of American Life League. “When you don’t tell kids to remain abstinent, they have more sex and more of them get pregnant. Pregnancy rates go down when kids don’t have sex.”
– Prior to 1990, teen pregnancy rates were increasing just about every year as Planned Parenthood’s sex-ed programs dominated public and even private school sex-education courses.
– In the early 1990s, it became popular to teach the abstinence message to teens and preteens. Teen pregnancy rates began to fall.
– By 1995, the federal government was funding an abstinence-only message while pregnancy rates continued to fall.
– By 2000, Planned Parenthood began lobbying the various states to refuse abstinence money and reduce abstinence programs and, predictably, in 2006, the teen pregnancy rate increased for the first time in 15 years.
– Today, partnering with President Obama, Planned Parenthood lobbying has succeeded in virtually cutting off abstinence-only funds.
“We can only imagine how high the teen pregnancy rates will go,” Sedlak said. “Planned Parenthood’s reach extends far beyond their vice grip on the nation’s classrooms. Their work can also be felt in pop culture, the internet, advertising and television – all excellent vehicles in their long-term goal to sexualize our children. Sadly it’s working.”
American Life League was cofounded in 1979 by Judie Brown. It is the largest grassroots Catholic pro-life organization in the United States and is committed to the protection of all innocent human beings from the moment of creation to death. For more information or press inquiries, please contact Katie Walker at 540.659.4942.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
- American Life League: STOPP International http://www.stopp.org/
- Catholic News Agency: Critic Denounces Guttmacher Teen Pregnancy Study as ‘Terribly Simplistic’ (26 January 2010) http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/critic_denounces_guttmacher_teen_pregnancy_study_as_terribly_simplistic/
- ABC News: Teen Pregnancies on the Rise Again (27 January 2010) http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ReproductiveHealth/teen-pregnancies-rise-experts-debate-reasons/story?id=9668045
