California Reduces Teen Birth Rate Through Sex Education
California's teen birth rate has fallen from 11th nationwide in 1991 to 21st in 2002. The drop of more than 40 percent is attributed to a state-sponsored program that provides information about abstinence and birth control. The pregnancy figures cited by California Wellness Foundation, which runs a statewide teen pregnancy initiative, were included in a brief the foundation gave California lawmakers last week in Washington. The drop exceeds the 30 percent decline in teen pregnancies nationally during the same period.
The decline surpassed all other states except Alaska, said Claire Brindis of the Center for Reproductive Health Research at the University of California-San Francisco. Births fell from 73 to 41.1 per 1,000 teens ages 15-19, she said, citing state Department of Health Services data. The national teen birth rate is 43 per 1,000 teens. The state saved some $1 billion in taxpayer money and over $2 billion in community costs associated with social services for teen moms and their babies.
California sex education programs in schools are required to teach that abstinence is the only 100 percent effective method in preventing both pregnancy and STDS. But, with parental approval, the programs also provide information on contraceptive methods.
California is the only state that refuses to accept federal sex education money, a stipulation of which requires public schools to teach only abstinence and avoid providing
contraception information. Sex-education advocates are worried that the state's budget constraints will force California to accept $7 million in abstinence grants and shift to abstinence- only instruction.