According to a 2006 report from the Guttmacher Institute, Arizona has the second highest teen pregnancy rates in the country. What is it about Arizona teens that have them doing the nasty without protection?
The majority of pregnant teens in Arizona are Hispanic. Arizona has twice the population of Hispanics in this fine state, could that account for our high teen pregnancy rates?
Arizona also (thanks to the Bush administration) teaches Abstinence Only in its sex education classes. Sex educators are not allowed to talk about condom use except in the context of the condom failing. Could this account for our high teen pregnancy rates?
Most Hispanics in Arizona are Catholic. Catholics tout abstinence only AND no birth control. So if a teenage Hispanic Catholic is going to have sex, they are probably not going to use birth control, as that would be breaking two of Gods Catholic rules.
Though teen birth rates were on the decline for many years, rates have been rising again since 2005. Teens are doing it, and if one were to speculate, teens are doing it more, and unprotected since the onset of Abstinence Only Sex Education.
A correlation? We will see.
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