Teen Pregnancy Rate, Abortion Rate Decline From 1990 To 2004, New CDC Report Finds

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Abortion
Article Date: 16 Apr 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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The teen pregnancy rate, abortion rate and overall number of pregnancies declined from 1990 to 2004, according to a report released on Monday by CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, Reuters reports (Fox, Reuters, 4/14). The teen pregnancy rate dropped 38% from 1990 to 2004, the abortion rate decreased by 50%, and the overall birth rate decreased by more than one-third in the same time period, the report found (AFP/Yahoo! News, 4/14).

According to the report, 12% of the 6.4 million pregnancies in the U.S. in 2004 were among teenagers, compared with 15% in 1990 (Fox, Reuters, 4/14). The declining teen pregnancy rate resulted in a "historic low" of 72.2 pregnancies per 1,000 women and girls ages 15 to 19 in 2004, according to the report (NCHS report, 4/14).

Out of the 6.4 million pregnancies in 2004, 4.11 million ended in live births, 1.22 million ended in abortion, and 1.06 million resulted in miscarriage or stillbirths, according to the report. The percentage of planned pregnancies fell from 90% in 1996 to 86% in 2003. In 2003, 74% of black women, 83% of Hispanic women and 89% of white women said their pregnancies were planned. About 19% of pregnancies were aborted in 2004, compared with 24% in 1990. About 37% of pregnancies among black women ended in abortion, compared with 12% among white women and 19% among Hispanic women (AFP/Yahoo! News, 4/14). The researchers noted that there are two possible reasons for the racial disparities in the data, Reuters reports. "First, non-Hispanic black women were less likely to use a contraceptive method at first intercourse and currently than white women," the researchers wrote. The second reason, they added, is that blacks reported a rate of "contraceptive failure" that was double what whites reported.

Stephanie Ventura of NCHS, who led the study, said although 45% of all pregnancies are among women who are not married, the typical "unwed mother" is no longer a teenager but an older woman. She added that more women now "are likely to have the baby rather than having an abortion compared to 1990." Ventura said that "maybe it is changes in attitude and a willingness to have children when you are not married and that kind of thing."

Ventura said other studies have shown that the teen pregnancy rate might have declined from 1990 to 2004 because of "changes in behavioral and contraceptive use among teenagers who are sexually active." The report says, "There is some evidence that contraceptive use (for example, at first intercourse and at most recent intercourse) was increasing among teenagers through 2002" (Reuters, 4/14).

The report is available online (.pdf).

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