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Time For A Pregnant Pause: Teen Birth Rates Are Rising

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 6, 2007

The teen birth rate in America rose sharply between 1986 and 1991, when it hit an all-time high of 61.8 births per 1,000 girls. Then it began a steady decline, plummeting 34 percent between 1991 and 2005, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

That trend has stopped, jarringly. The center reported Wednesday that between 2005 and 2006 among 15- to 19-year-old girls, the birth rate rose by 3 percent.

While experts said what may be causing the reversal is unclear, the new data reignited debate about abstinence-only sex education programs, which receive about $176 million a year in federal funding. Congress is debating whether to increase that by $28 million.

Nation/World, Page 7

•The birth rate among 10- to 14-year-old girls continued to fall in the latest figures.

•The rate for ages 15 to 19 increased from 40.5 per 1,000 girls to 41.9 births per 1,000 in 2006. Rates also increased for women in their 20s, 30s and 40s.

•The increase was highest among black teens, whose birth rate rose 5 percent between 2005 and 2006, reaching 63.7 per 1,000 teens.

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