Who Knew? Free Birth Control = Fewer Teen Moms
From the AP:
Free birth control led to substantially lower rates of abortions and teen births, a large study concluded Thursday, offering strong evidence for how a contested Obama administration policy could benefit women's health.
The project tracked more than 9,000 women in St. Louis, many of them poor or uninsured. They were given their choice of a range of contraceptive methods at no cost — from birth-control pills to goofproof options such as the IUD or a matchstick-size implant.
The effect on teen pregnancy was striking: There were 6.3 births per 1,000 teenagers in the study. Compare that to a national rate of 34 births per 1,000 teens in 2010.
There also were substantially lower rates of abortion, when compared with women in the metro area and nationally: 4.4 to 7.5 abortions per 1,000 women in the study, compared with 13.4 to 17 abortions per 1,000 women overall in the St. Louis region, Peipert calculated. That's also lower than the national rate of almost 20 abortions per 1,000 women.
"It's just an amazing improvement," Dr. James Breeden, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said of the results. "I would think if you were against abortions, you would be 100 percent for contraception access."
So if you ever wonder if handing out condoms in the Health Centers in our high schools is a good idea, well, it is. This study suggests that doing more might even be better.
Human nature being what it is - and teen human nature at that - it is better to be prepared than the massive heartache and costs of teen pregnancy.
Free birth control led to substantially lower rates of abortions and teen births, a large study concluded Thursday, offering strong evidence for how a contested Obama administration policy could benefit women's health.
The project tracked more than 9,000 women in St. Louis, many of them poor or uninsured. They were given their choice of a range of contraceptive methods at no cost — from birth-control pills to goofproof options such as the IUD or a matchstick-size implant.
The effect on teen pregnancy was striking: There were 6.3 births per 1,000 teenagers in the study. Compare that to a national rate of 34 births per 1,000 teens in 2010.
There also were substantially lower rates of abortion, when compared with women in the metro area and nationally: 4.4 to 7.5 abortions per 1,000 women in the study, compared with 13.4 to 17 abortions per 1,000 women overall in the St. Louis region, Peipert calculated. That's also lower than the national rate of almost 20 abortions per 1,000 women.
"It's just an amazing improvement," Dr. James Breeden, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said of the results. "I would think if you were against abortions, you would be 100 percent for contraception access."
So if you ever wonder if handing out condoms in the Health Centers in our high schools is a good idea, well, it is. This study suggests that doing more might even be better.
Human nature being what it is - and teen human nature at that - it is better to be prepared than the massive heartache and costs of teen pregnancy.
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