The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report showing that the U.S. population is more than replacing itself (unlike much of Europe), prompts comments like this: "The United States can no longer afford to fund failed abstinence-only programs," said James Wagoner of the group Advocates for Youth.
-- From "Number of babies born in the US reaches record levels" by Dan Glaister in Los Angeles for The Guardian 3/18/09
The number of babies born in the US reached record levels in 2007, outpacing the birthrate from the late 1950s. Official figures released today showed that 4,317,119 babies were born . . . in 2007, the highest number on record.
Beneath the bald figures, the statistics, culled from birth certificates, hinted at some cultural shifts in the US as the nation enjoyed the final months before the economic crisis set in. Unmarried mothers accounted for almost 40% of births, with three-quarters of them over the age of 20. Teen births, after declining for much of the past 15 years, rose for the second year, as did births across all ages and races.
The average American woman has 2.1 children in her lifetime, the most since the early 1970s, with women of Hispanic origin having the highest rate - almost three children per woman.
America's birthrate has left behind those of its rich peers, staying above two children per woman since the late 1980s. Rates in Italy, Germany and Japan have hovered around 1.3 over a decade, while the UK rate has revived somewhat after falling below 1.7 around the turn of the millennium. "If it is a boom, it's a very tiny little boom," said Brady Hamilton, the report's lead author. "Most noteworthy is the total fertility rate per 1,000 women. In 2006 it was above replacement, for 2007 it's even higher."
Meanwhile abortion rates have dropped to their lowest levels in decades.
To read the entire article (above), CLICK HERE.
From "Teenage Birth Rate Increases For Second Consecutive Year" by Rob Stein and Donna St. George, Washington Post Staff Writers 3/19/09
Nationally, the birth rate among 15-to-19-year-olds rose 1.4 percent from 2006 to 2007, continuing a climb that began a year earlier. The rate jumped 3.4 percent from 2005 to 2006, reversing what had been a 14-year decline.
Although researchers will have to wait at least another year to see whether a clear trend emerges, the two consecutive increases signal that the long national campaign to reduce teen pregnancies may have stalled or even reversed.
The reasons for the increase remain unclear, although experts speculated that it could be a result of growing complacency about AIDS and teen pregnancy, among other factors. The rise may also reflect a broader trend that affects all age groups, because birth rates have also increased among women in their 20s, 30s and 40s and older unmarried women.
The increase raised concerns across the ideological spectrum and fueled an intense debate over federal funding for sex-education programs that focus on encouraging abstinence until marriage. Opponents and proponents are girding for a new round in the battle over funding of abstinence education when President Obama reveals within weeks whether he will seek to continue or cut that funding.
[This report, and other propaganda,] provide new evidence that the approach is ineffective and that the money should be shifted to programs that include educating young people about contraceptives -- efforts that have been shown to be highly effective.
Abstinence programs had been receiving about $176 million in federal funding each year, but Congress cut about $14 million from the current budget.
While the national increase from 2005 to 2006 occurred across all ethnic groups, the trends between 2006 and 2007 were not uniform. The birth rate increased 2 percent among whites and Asians and 1 percent among blacks, but it decreased 2 percent among Hispanics.
The mixed statistics and modest increase raised the odds that the two years of increases could be a statistical blip, [Stephanie J. Ventura of the National Center for Health Statistics] said. But other experts said the two-year data probably represent a trend and fit with other research showing a stall in the long drop in sexual activity among teenagers, as well as a decrease in condom use.
Obviously, the media desires the Obama Administration to "invest" more tax dollars into "stimulus" programs by Planned Parenthood.
To read the entire article (above), CLICK HERE.
Also, read the Associated Press report.
