So the front page has this form the debate tonight:
Rick Santorum explains the reason why he speaks out against birth control is that teen and out of wedlock birth rates are skyrocketing. I don't think he understands what the point of birth control is.
And what do the numbers show? From
CNN, on February 9th:
Researchers at the Guttmacher Institute, a sexual and reproductive health think tank, say the pregnancy rate among teens is down 42%, from 116.9 pregnancies per 1,000 women in 1990, to 67.8 pregnancies per 1,000 women in 2008. This means about 7% of young women between the ages of 15 to 19 became pregnant in the United States in 2008.
"The 30-plus years of rates that we have, have been showing a very steady decline," said Kathryn Kost, a senior research associate at Guttmacher, and the lead author on the paper. "Rates now, from 2008 are at the lowest levels we ever seen since we started reporting them."
Kost also says the teen birth rate – the number of actual babies born to teenage moms - was down 35% as well; and the abortion rate among teens dropped almost 60% from its peak in 1988.
So, abortion rates are down, and teenage pregnancy is down to decades low levels.
WHY?
""What seems pretty clear is that increasing use of contraception is preventing these kids from getting pregnant in the first place," said Kost."
Vote for Rick Santorum: he'll increase teen pregnancy and abortions.
This rant is now over.
Update - from the comments, the teen pregnancy rate is the lowest in 70 years!!!
http://www.cdc.gov/...