In recent weeks we’ve seen several abortion and contraception advocates cheering their success in reducing teen pregnancy.
Well, one thing they didn’t take into account was that perhaps teens aren’t having as much sex. My friend Michael New of Ave Maria University reported at National Review that is the case and is calling it a “largely unheralded public-policy success story.”
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a report showing a significant decline in teen sexual activity between 2005 and 2015. The report obtained data on the sexual conduct of teens by analyzing 29 separate state-level Youth Risk Behavior Surveys. Overall, the percentage of teenagers that reported ever having engaged in sexual intercourse declined from 46.8 percent to 41.2 percent over this ten-year time period. The study finds declines in teen sexual activity across racial groups, grade levels, and regions. Interestingly, the declines in teen sexual activity were the largest among blacks and Hispanics. Between 2005 and 2015, the percentage of black and Hispanic teenagers who had ever engaged in sexual intercourse fell by over 19 percentage points and 8 percentage points, respectively. Teenagers in ninth and tenth grades reported larger decreases in sexual activity than teens in higher grade levels…
These new statistics from the CDC demonstrate that the increasing number of teenagers forgoing sexual activity is a central reason for America’s decline in teen pregnancy.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that this news is not viewed as newsworthy.
Why this might be the case, isn’t entirely clear, however. It could be perhaps the ebb tide of the sexual revolution. Maybe.
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