2009-01-07 Mississippi, A Hotbed of Abstinence Education, Now Boasts Highest Teen Pregnancy Rate In America

2009-01-07 Ryan Powers Think Progress \Mississippi\abstinence-based education\teen pregnancy http://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/07/teen-pregnancy/ Mississippi, A Hotbed of Abstinence Education, Now Boasts Highest Teen Pregnancy Rate In America Mississippi, A Hotbed of Abstinence Education, Now Boasts Highest Teen Pregnancy Rate In America  The Centers for Disease Control released a new report today that found that Mississippi "now has the nation's highest teen pregnancy rate, displacing Texas and New Mexico for that lamentable title." The report found that in 2006, the Mississippi teen pregnancy rate was over 60 percent higher than the national average and increased 13 percent since the year before. While the new report does not explain why the state's teen pregnancy rate is increasing, one reason may be the poor quality of its sex ed programs. As the Sexuality Information and Education Center explains, Mississippi focuses heavily on abstinence education and teachers are prohibited from demonstrating how to use contraceptives...

&ldquo;...one reason [why the state's teen pregnancy rate is increasing] may be the poor quality of its sex ed programs. ...Mississippi focuses heavily on abstinence education and teachers are prohibited from demonstrating how to use contraceptives...&rdquo;   