Teen Pregnancy

In nearly 40 years teen pregnancy is at the lowest rate that it has ever been. Both, birth and abortion rates in the U.S. have dropped to the lowest it has been since 1972.  The Guttmacher Institute, which conducted this study, is a research organization that focuses on sexual and reproductive health. The Guttmacher researches found that 2008 is the most recent year for all the data.  From 1990 to 2008, the amount of teen girls, ages 15 to 19, that got impregnated dropped 4 percentage points, from 11 to 7 percent.  Abortions amongst teen girls decreased from 4 percent in 1988, to 1.8 percent in 2008.  Even though the rate of teen pregnancy has dropped there is still a space dividing white, Hispanic and African American teens. African American and Hispanic teen pregnancy and abortion rates are four times higher then white teens. In 2008, about 750,000 women in the U.S. under the age of 20 became pregnant. It  which went to a pregnancy rate of 67.8 pregnancies per 1,000 women. The women were from 15 to 19 years old.  In 1972 the Supreme Court established a women’s right to an abortion in Roe V. Wade.  Researches say that teen pregnancy has declined mainly due to the acknowledgment of increased contraceptive use. Studies confirm that an increase of 9 percent of males, which is 8 out of 10, had used condoms the first time they had sex. Studies show that teenagers are becoming more understanding about sex due to the increase of condom use. Also the rate of teens admitting to having sex at least once has dropped since 1998. 42 percent of female teens, and 42 percent of male teens have admitted to having sex at least once.

In 2009, MTV released a show called "Teen Mom" and "16 and Pregnant." Which are shows about what teen moms and families go through. Many people love the show and think it is amazing, but others are not so thrilled about it. The MTV show distresses Dr. Jennider Landa, M.D, Medical Officer of BodyLogicMD. Dr.Landa stated, " For most people, teen pregnancy is seen as a difficult event that causes a lot of upheaval in the child's life that is having the child."  She isn't thrilled about MTV's television show that became the networks top new series. Maci Bookout, a star on "Teen Mom" makes appearances at colleges all over the U.S. Her lectures are about the struggles of being a teen mom and so much more. Bookout explains everything and what she went through, to before she became pregnant and what is was like after the pregnancy and her struggles.