Teen pregnancy rate hits 10-year low

NEW YORK, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- The average teenage pregnancy rate in the United States continued to decline in 2000 following a 1990 high of 117 per 1,000 women, researchers said Thursday.

In 2000, just over 83 out of 1,000 teens became pregnant, a 28 percent decrease from 1990, according to data from the Alan Guttmacher Institute.

Teenage birth and abortion rates also declined between 1990 and 2000.

Teenage pregnancy rates in 2000 varied widely by state, however, ranging from 42 pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15-19 in North Dakota to 113 per 1,000 in Nevada. The District of Columbia reported 128 per 1,000.

The pregnancy rate among black women aged 15-19 declined 32 percent between 1990 and 2000 to 153 per 1,000 women. Among white teenagers it declined 28 percent to 71 per 1,000. The rate among Hispanic teenagers fell 15 percent from 1992-2000, following a brief increase from 1990-1992, to 139 per 1,000.

The institute defines pregnancies as the sum of births, miscarriages -- including stillbirths -- and abortions.