NEW YORK, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Conservative sexual abstinence advocates claim their campaign is behind a 10-year low in U.S. teenage pregnancy rates, the New York Times said Tuesday.
The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the teenage birthrate had declined 30 percent over 10 years to a historic low of 43 births per 1,000. African-American teenagers showed the sharpest declines, down more than 40 percent since 1991.
Abstinence-only education, which the Bush administration supports, teaches that refraining from sex is the only way to prevent pregnancy and diseases. Programs that receive federal financing are not allowed to advise using contraception to reduce the risk of pregnancy or condoms to protect against disease. In 2003, the federal government devoted $117 million to abstinence education.
Leslee Unruh, president and founder of the Abstinence Clearinghouse in Sioux Falls, S.D., finds the trends encouraging.
"I look at these declines as evidence that teenagers across the country are embracing the idea of abstinence until marriage," Unruh said. "Young people today want something more than just jumping into bed."
