Teen pregnancies drop to a new low, abortions continue decline

[GliderGuider]

Source: Globe & Mail



Teen pregnancies drop to a new low, abortions continue decline
ANDRÉ PICARD
May 17, 2007

The teenage pregnancy rate in Canada has hit an all-time low and the teen abortion rate has fallen to its lowest level in more than a decade, according to a new report.

The number of unwanted pregnancies among adolescents and young adults has fallen principally because they are using birth control, said Alex McKay, research co-ordinator at the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada, and author of the study.

"It's due to greater contraceptive use, not teens having less sex," he said.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070517.wxlpregnancy17/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/home

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And if my kids are any indication, the birth rate as a whole will continue to decline all across Canada.
Why?
I'd put a bet on education and universal health care, but I suspect the odds are even-money on not wanting to bring a baby into the world with an iffy future.

[formerrepuke]

1. Is birth control included with the healthcare (in Canada)?

[GliderGuider]

4. partly

All doctor visits are paid for publicly. All requests for reproductive care such as PAP tests are confidential and free of charge to the patient. All STD tests are also confidential and free of charge.

My daughter recently began taking the Pill. The doctor gave her free 4 month's supply to get started. They'll see if this one agrees with her (i.e. minimal side effects) and then he'll either change it or give her a prescription to continue.

Prescriptions are not currently free, although there is a movement by the New Democratic Party to bring in a national programme as was first intended by TC Douglas, the founder of public health care in Canada, and more recently the Romanow Report on public health.

If my daughter were a student, she'd be eligible for free contraceptives. I can't think of any post-secondary schools that don't offer free pills and condoms through the student health services offices. It keeps kids in school, if nothing else.

[Tempest]

2. Birth rates in industrial nations are dropping worldwide

In Europe, population increases are coming from immigration because birth rates are so low.

[Maat]

3. Studies have repeatedly shown that two factors are critical in ..

controlling world population: (1) the average level of education in the female population; and (2) the availability of contraception and healthcare.

Tragically, my country is falling short, in comparison to Europe and Canada. I'm working on that.

[MessiahRp]

5. Which is exactly why this Abstinence Only Policy is stupid

It's too bad RWers are so stupid and afraid of sex to acknowledge that birth control and competent sex education would reduce the very thing they claim to hate most... abortion.

Rp

[stuartrida]

6. How true

and what a shame.

[AlecBGreen]

7. I did a double take when I saw the headline

I thought you were referring to the US - I knew it couldnt be true! Here at my high school (Im a teacher) about 5% of my female students are mothers or expecting...And this is a relatively wealthy area...

Good ol Canada

[barb162]

8. Me too! A big doubletake.

[Up2Late]

9. LOL! I knew this had to be either total BS or talking about another country.

Good for Canada! I knew this couldn't be about the old U.S. of A.

[truthisfreedom]

10. The reason bushco wants abstinence-only programs for kids is to INCREASE the population

because they need more bodies for commerce in a rapidly-aging country.

Far fewer kids are being born here now, and we're going to have a geriatric nation very soon.

[Giant Robot]

11. When I saw the headline

My first thought was...Oh great the Republicans will say this is because of abstinence only education. We're screwed.

But then I read it and felt both better and worse. Better that the abstinence only crowd is proven wrong yet again, but worse that this could be my country doing this too. Very sad.

But good on you Canada.

[sakabatou]

12. What's the news of US pregnancies?

[Odin2005]

14. Last I knoew the # of teen pregnancies were slowly declining here in the US.

[xxqqqzme]

13. oh, in Canada. I thought

I read or heard that teen pregnancies in the US were not declining - Terminations & teen pregnancies declined under Clinton, I know.

[bamacrat]

15. Well atleast some are teaching kids about safer sex.

[Gloria]

16. Sadly, Dona Ana County in NM isn't doing so well.....

the stats are really among the highest .....Board of Ed finally instituted school-based health centers which includes contraceptives, but only with parental consent.

That will do wonders....

[ckramer]

17. Sex, and no baby - isn't that the reason the population is in decline everywhere?

???

Please educate me.

[GliderGuider]

20. Sorry, I don't understand what you don't understand

When you say "everywhere" what do you mean? The population is, in fact, going up everywhere.
We're at 6.5 billion and counting. See my website and read the article on population.
http://www.paulchefurka.ca/Population.html

[ckramer]

22. What I meant is developed nations use immigration to increase their declined population

Why can't they re-grow their population by themselves without resorting to importing from outside?

Would the prevalent attitude toward sex has something to do with this?

That's my question.

[GliderGuider]

23. Theworst thing we could do is to "re-grow" our population.

The problem with the world is there are too damned many of us already. Our entire species is in at least 25% overshoot, and if you factor in the effects of oil depletion (which is starting to hit now, and will only keep getting worse), we are in much, much worse shape than that.

We need all the population decline we can get. The last thing we need is more new children putting an ever-increasing strain on the planet's resources and generating ever more waste products. What we need is for the whole world to figure out that the only responsible way to have sex is for recreation, not procreation.

Make love, not children.

[Bridget Burke]

24. Because women are not simply incubators.

More are choosing to have fewer children. Or none at all.

What's wrong with immigration?

[hyphenate]

18. The key, most definitely

is better education.

I don't care at all about the religious right and others who try to eliminate one choice for young adults and teenagers. Sex is sex is sex, and it's been around for millennia, and whether you're 50 or 20 or even 15, the curiosity pertaining to it is going to win over almost every single time. If the kids aren't sexually active by the time they're 15 or 16, they are most likely familiar already (both boys and girls) with masturbation as an alternative. Either way, they are not performing abstinence at any rate.

The religious and not so religious right wants, as usual, to stifle the awareness of sex, and deny the existence of sex outside of a marriage, no matter how obvious it is that it goes on all the time and will continue to do so. As I've often mentioned in the past, they will allow continued violence in the media, for example, and not allow simple biology to be shown instead. It's one of the areas in which their hypocrisy is most evident.

Teens and young adults are going to do what they want, regardless of their parents' stand on a subject, Instead of trying to stop them, the best response is to make certain they are knowledgeable to the greatest extent possible, and hope that their upbringing will help them make the decisions they need to in respect to their sexual activities. If they are treated as children even into their late teens, they are not going to be able to make adult decisions, which will be what propels them into making tough decisions on their own.

The "talk" should come when they are beginning to be aware of the differences between girls and boys, and not put off into later years, by which time they will already have learned about sex through other sources, and which may have inconsistencies and outright falsehoods. In fact, the "talk" should not even exist, because for the child and parent involved, talk about sex should be an open dialogue. The facts about physiology should be first, and as the child gets gradually older, the conversations on the subject should go from physiological to psychological, as the child matures.

My sister was pregnant at 17, and my niece was also 17 when she had her child, and it's the kind of never-ending cycle that happens when facts are not emphasized. But it's also true that some children will completely ignore the facts and opt for unprotected sex regardless of how much they know about the consequences. It's only by knowing the psychological aspects as well that some might stop for a minute to consider what they are doing.

Since even young children are online and know their way around a website, it can become more important to offer education at a younger age. However, most 9 and 10 year olds are, for the most part, not really interested in sex, and educating them will likely not make a major impact on them for a couple of years. Still, learning why there are no many naked or bare-chested women on certain websites can help them understand the subject instead of it being taboo.

As always, rather than the Repubs and the religious right burying their heads in the sand, frank conversations and an open mind are more crucial in the end. Let's hope that parents learn that instead of being in denial.

[Orsino]

19. In a country that hasn't dismantled its Dept. of Education...

...and where people don't automatically giggle, smirk or protest when sex is alluded to. Fancy that.

[Solly Mack]

21. Imagine that.... 2+2=4

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

25. That's impossible.

According to GD, kids these days are dressing like whores and having much more sex and committing lots more violence.

[TrogL]

26. Yeah, but it's safe sex

Also, condom sales are way up.

Here's a tip courtesy of the Canadian Armed Forces. Keep a supply of condoms to put over your gun barrel in dusty or sandy conditions (which will only increase due to global warming). If you're in a hurry, just shoot right through it.