May is National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, and Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky (PPINK) is highlighting the need for comprehensive, medically accurate sex education and access to youth-friendly health services.
A report released this week by the Guttmacher Institute shows that nationally, teen pregnancy rates are at historic lows. While the continuing decline in teen pregnancy in the U.S. is good news, the teen pregnancy rate in Indiana and Kentucky is not declining as fast as the national average. Kentucky has the 18th-highest rate of teen pregnancy in the country; Indiana, the 32nd-highest, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. In Indiana, 25 teenagers become pregnant every day—enough to fill a classroom.
Teen pregnancy is associated with higher poverty, lower education, higher infant mortality, and greater reliance on public support. About 30 percent of young women in the U.S. become pregnant at least once before the age of 20.
“When it comes to lowering the teen pregnancy rate, we know what works: access to birth control and comprehensive, medically accurate sex education,” said PPINK President and CEO Betty Cockrum. “When teens have the information they need, they make smarter decisions about sex. In fact, sex education that includes an abstinence-plus curriculum has been proven to help young people delay sex, and to use contraception and condoms when they do become sexually active. Ideally that education comes from parents, but we know that often is not the case.”
At its 28 health centers in Indiana and Kentucky, PPINK professionals provide information and high-quality, affordable health care in a non-judgmental setting. Through educational programs for teenagers and young adults, PPINK also provides accurate information about the importance of protecting themselves against both unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease.
Peer education programs in Indiana and Kentucky teach teenagers about healthy relationships and the importance of taking charge of their reproductive health, and PPINK also provides information and programs for parents of teenagers that help parents talk to their teenagers about these important topics.
“Our goal is to eliminate unintended teen pregnancies in the communities we serve,” Cockrum continued. “Equipping teens with the information and health care they need to make healthy decisions is vital to creating healthy families and communities in Indiana and Kentucky.”
For more information on PPINK health centers and education programs, visit ppink.org.
