Sexual Health And Teens

Almost two-thirds of Canadian teens report using birth control pills at last intercourse, which illustrates the accessibility of reliable contraceptive methods. Only one-third of U.S. teens report using birth control pills at last intercourse, and an alarming 20 percent of teens report using no contraception at last intercourse. The sample size of Canadian teens reporting that they did not use contraceptives at last intercourse was too low to accurately report. The same study shows a comparison of pregnancy and sexual health outcomes between American teens and European teens that is even more startling. Although American and European adolescents initiate sexual activity around the same age, American teens tend to have more sexual partners and less consistent use of contraceptives than teens in Great Britain, France, and Sweden, leaving themselves vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and pregnancy. A 2000 study in Family Planning Perspectives, "Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing: Levels and trends in developed countries," shows that teens in the United States become pregnant at a rate almost twice that of teens in England and Wales, more than three times that of Swedish teens, four times that of French teens, and almost seven times that of Dutch teens. The U.S. teen pregnancy rate is on par with the rates of Eastern European countries and surpassed only by the Russian Federation. Unfortunately, the Bush administration and its anti-choice allies in Congress and state governments are doing everything possible to prevent teens from getting the sexual health information and services they need. http://www.plannedparenthood.org/pp2/portal/files/portal/webzine/newspoliticsactivism/fean-051130-teens-sexual-health.xml

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