Planned Parenthood Calls for Comprehensive Sex Education on Eighth Annual National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnan

ALBANY, NY (05/05/2009)(readMedia)-- In recognition of the eighth annual National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) today called for public funding of comprehensive, medically accurate sex education programs to reduce the alarming rate of unintended teen pregnancies in this country.

"Teens deserve honest, accurate, age-appropriate information about how to protect themselves," said [insert affiliate spokesperson]. "They need sex education that provides information about healthy communication, responsible decision making, as well as abstinence and contraception as ways to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections."

The U.S. teen birthrate increased for the second year in a row, according to data released in March by the National Center for Health Statistics. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy reports the U.S. has the highest rates of teen pregnancy among comparable countries. An estimated 750,000 American teens become pregnant each year.

Here in the Capital Region, Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood (UHPP) educators provide over 500 sexual health education programs each year, reaching over 6,000 participants. The local agency recruits and trains high school students in Albany and Columbia County to serve as peer educators, a source of factual information about sexual health and responsibility. The program, called S.T.A.R.S. (for Seriously Talking About Responsible Sex) receives high ratings from area administrators, health teachers and parents. The students also reach out to young people through weekly teen drop-in clinics and social networking sites.

Several special activities and program series are planned for National Teen Pregnancy Prevention month, including in-school and after-school programs in local middle schools and high schools, tabling at the Tulip Festival and promotion of the on-line Teen Pregnancy PRevention month quiz through web sites and social networking sites (see attachment for details).

Planned Parenthood affiliate educators nationwide reach more than 1.2 million young people and adults with medically accurate sex education each year. As a trusted health care provider, Planned Parenthood knows firsthand the power of education to help teens make responsible decisions about their health. Every year we provide three million women, men, and teens nationwide with health information and services to prevent unintended pregnancy and protect their health.

Providing teens and young people with the information they need to make responsible decisions is the commonsense solution to reducing unintended teen pregnancy. Numerous studies have analyzed abstinence-only programs and found them to be ineffective.

A study conducted by the University of Washington found that teens who had comprehensive sex education were 50 percent less likely to become pregnant than teens who had no sex education or who were in abstinence-only programs. A study by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy reports that two-thirds of the examined sex education programs that focus on both abstinence and contraception had a positive effect on teen sexual behavior. And a 2008 Guttmacher Institute report found that most abstinence programs did not delay initiation of sexual activity.

President Barack Obama has consistently supported comprehensive and age-appropriate sex education. As a senator, President Obama was an original co-sponsor of the Prevention First Act, which would ensure that all taxpayer-funded federal programs are medically accurate and include information about contraception.

Planned Parenthood is a 2009 national partner of the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, an effort to help teens understand the importance of avoiding unintended pregnancy. For more information, please visit The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

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Planned Parenthood Federation of America is the nation's leading sexual and reproductive health care advocate and provider. We believe that everyone has the right to choose when or whether to have a child, and that every child should be wanted and loved. Planned Parenthood affiliates operate nearly 880 health centers nationwide, providing medical services and sexuality education for millions of women, men, and teenagers each year. We also work with allies worldwide to ensure that all women and men have the right and the means to meet their sexual and reproductive health care needs.