US teen abortion rate exceed Europe's

Reuters Health reported on Dec. 15 the teen birth rate in the US is 13 times higher than in the Netherlands, 6 times higher than in France and nearly 4 times higher than in Germany, according to study results released. The rates for teen abortion between the US and countries in Europe showed similar results.

Study tours sponsored by Advocates for Youth and the University of North Carolina during the summers of 1998 and 1999 found the adolescent birth rate in the US is 52 per 1,000 teens, while in the Netherlands it is 4 per 1,000, in France it is 9 per 1,000 and in Germany it is 14 per 1,000.

The teen abortion rate is 26.8 per 1,000 in the US, 4.2 per 1,000 in the Netherlands, 8.9 per 1,000 in France, and 3.1 per 1,000 teens in Germany, accroding to the report.

James Wagoner, president of Advocates for Youth, told Reuters Health Europeans "...are very open, practical and healthy in their attitudes towards sex....This contrasts very dramatically with attitudes in the US."

"...ignorance is nobody's friend in the era of AIDS. A message of abstinence is not only naive and misguided, but irresponsible." he said.

He said we offer simplistic solutions to their complex problems. "I think it's interesting that the AMA said [at its interim House of Delegates meeting] that condom distribution is more effective than school sex education programs." Wagoner said.

On Dec. 14, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported one in three US schools take an abstinence-only approach to sex education. The Foundation researchers interviewed 313 school principals about their schools' sex education curricula. They found 34% of schools adopt an abstinence-only approach. The majority of these schools are located in the south. The study showed of the schools with the abstinence only approach 42% were located in the south and 29% of schools elsewhere. Less then half the schools overall give out information on birth control and how to obtain it.

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