News Archives

12/30/2009: From The Pueblo Chieftain
TEEN PREGNANCY ON RISE AGAIN IN PUEBLO
Teen pregnancy is in the news again in Pueblo.  This is a recurring topic over decades and many may be wondering what more can be said about the issue.  To start with, teen pregnancy is on the rise again in Pueblo.  Read More...

12/28/2009: From The Pueblo Chieftain
TEEN PREGNANCY AN ENDEMIC PROBLEM  While there are a number of factors that can lead a family into poverty, one of the surest ways is teen pregnancy.  Pueblo has struggled for years with the question of adolescent girls having babies.  Read More...

12/15/2009: From The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
BREAKING THROUGH ON THE SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH AND HEALTH DISPARITIES: AN APPROACH TO MESSAGE TRANSLATION  There are rich resources–decades of research and scholarly articles–documenting health disparities in America and the importance of social determinants of health. But how can we make sure that these findings are well-understood by policy makers?  Read more...

12/02/09: From Feministing.com
PREGNANT HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE FACES DISCRIMINATION  Texas teen Mackenzie McCollum was barred from playing on her school's volleyball team because she was pregnant - and was retaliated against when she fought back against the discrimination.  Read more...

12/01/09: From 5280 Magazine
THE PARENT TRAP: VOLUNTEERS ENSURE THAT THIS GENERATION OF TEEN PARENTS- AND ITS CHILDREN- SUCCEEDS  Nineteen-year-old senior Sara Espinoza squeezes past a classmate's swollen belly and heads down the hallway to a wall plastered in long trails of white paper. Each strip is a time line crafted by Florence Crittenton students to mark their lives' highs ("first boyfriend") and lows ("my mom married a monster"). At some point in the dips and swirls, each one has a common theme: "I was pregnant."  Read more...

11/16/09: From Reuters
SEX INFECTIONS STILL GROWING IN U.S., SAYS CDC  American squeamishness about talking about sex has helped keep common sexually transmitted infections far too common, especially among vulnerable teens, U.S. researchers reported Monday.  Latest statistics on chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis show the three highly treatable infections continue to spread in the United States.  Read more...

9/21/09: From The Durango Herald
BAYFIELD TEENS BRING BIRTH CONTROL, HEALTH MESSAGE TO DENVER  A component of a decade-old San Juan Basin Health Department program that broadly defines teenage well-being is scheduled to get statewide attention next month at the annual conference of the Colorado Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Parenting and Prevention.  Read more...

7/23/09: From The National Partnership for Women & Families
ADVOCATES CALL ATTENTION TO RISING TEEN PREGNANCIES IN FOSTER CARE PROGRAMS  Advocates are stepping up efforts to address the high pregnancy rate among teens in foster care programs, Time reports. Although teen pregnancy rates are rising nationwide after years of declines, the numbers in the foster care system are "truly epidemic," according to Time.  Read More...

7/21/09: From The Guttmacher Institute
ADOLESCENT WOMEN’S CONTRACEPTIVE USE IS LESS CONSISTENT THAN THAT OF ADULT WOMEN, WITH A MUCH HIGHER FAILURE RATE  A new study of women’s contraceptive use around the world finds that sexually active 15–19-year-olds are more likely than their 20–49-year-old counterparts to use contraceptives inconsistently and, on average, experience a 25% higher rate of contraceptive failure.  Read More...

7/8/09: From Child Trends
YOUNG ADULT ATTITUDES ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS AND MARRIAGE: TIMES MAY HAVE CHANGED, BUT EXPECTATIONS REMAIN HIGH  Many scholars and commentators have observed that life experiences of today's young adults differ from those of young adults in past decades.  Young adulthood has become a more distinct stage of life, as many young people postpone family-related transitions and focus on education and employment.  Read More...

5/6/09: From The National Campaign
PRESIDENT OBAMA'S MESSAGE  "I send my warmest greetings to all who are recognizing America's National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.  Despite progress over the last decade, three out of every ten women in the United States become pregnant."  Read more...

5/6/09: From RH Reality Check
TEEN PREGNANCY PREVENTION DAY SPECIAL! JANE FONDA, SHELBY KNOX AND MORE...  RH Reality Check is an online community and publication serving individuals and organizations committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights.  Read the May eNews update...

5/2/09: From The Pueblo Chieftain
EDUCATION KEY TO SLOWING TEEN-PREGNANCY RATE  Each year Pueblo County fills the equivalent of about 15 kindergarten classrooms with children born to teen mothers.  As you know by now, Pueblo has an epidemic of teen pregnancy, and although the nation and Colorado have experienced significant decreases in teen pregnancy, Pueblo has not.  Read more...

5/1/09: From The New York Times
WHEN THE CELLPHONE TEACHES SEX EDUCATION  The special cellphone, set on vibrate, begins to whir.  Throughout North Carolina, anonymous teenagers are texting questions to it about sex.  Read more..."

4/28/09: From the National Partnership for Women and Families
MANY TEEN PREGNANCY PREVENTION PROGRAMS FACE FUNDING CUTS  Hundreds of not-for-profit teenage pregnancy prevention and comprehensive sex education programs across the U.S. are facing budgetary constraints as a result of the economic downturn and reductions in public and private funding, which could threaten the ability of many centers to continue operations, the Wall Street Journal reports.  Read more...

4/23/09: From The Pueblo Chieftain
CITY SCHOOLS LIKELY TO USE SCIENCE-BASED SEX ED COURSE  The Pueblo City Schools Board of Education is likely to get a recommendation that it continue to use the sex education program it has now and not use a federally funded abstinence program.  Read more...

4/23/09: From The Pueblo Chieftain
CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT TEEN PREGNANCIES COMING TO PUEBLO  Officials from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy will be in Pueblo May 6 to help local health educators mark the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.  Katherine Suellentrop, senior manager for the research program at the national agency, said that representatives were going to be in Colorado and state teen pregnancy prevention officials suggested they come to Pueblo where rates are rising and the problem is considered acute.  Read more...

4/23/09: From The Associated Press
FDA TO ALLOW 'MORNING-AFTER' PILL FOR 17-YEAR-OLDS  Women's groups cheered the government's decision to allow 17-year-olds to buy the "morning-after" emergency contraceptive without a doctor's prescription, but conservatives denounced it as a blow to parental supervision of teens.  Read more...

4/14/09: From Healthy Teen Network
FREE WEBCAST ON ADOLESCENT HEALTH DISPARITIES  Registration is now open for the National Initiative to Improve Adolescent Health's (NIIAH) third of three free webcasts on adolescent health disparities.  Please join the stellar panel in this important discussion on April 29, 2009.  To register for the webcast or to view the archived webcast click here...

4/2/09: From The Kaiser Family Foundation
MTV UNWRAPS GYT: GET YOURSELF TESTED  MTV and the Kaiser Family Foundation, working with Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and its nationwide network of health centers, and other partners nationwide, today officially unveiled GYT: “Get Yourself Tested,” a campaign to increase testing for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among those under 25 years old.  Read more...

3/19/09: From the National Partnership for Women and Families
TEEN BIRTHS ROSE FOR SECOND YEAR IN 2007; OVERALL NUMBER OF BIRTHS AT HIGHEST LEVEL IN U.S. HISTORY  The birth rate among U.S. teens increased for the second year in a row in 2007, according to a National Center for Health Statistics report issued Wednesday, the Washington Post reports. The national birth rate among women ages 15 to 19 rose 1.4% from 2006 to 2007, continuing an increase that began in 2006 when the rate went up 3.4% after 14 years of decline.  Read more...

3/18/09: From The National Campaign
TEEN BIRTHRATE UP FOR SECOND YEAR IN A ROW; NEW SURVEY SUGGESTS PARENTS MOST INFLUENCE TEENS' DECISIONS ABOUT SEX  The teen birth rate in the United States increased 1% in 2007, according to data released today by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).  This is the second year in a row that the teen birth rate has increased. Read more...

3/18/09: From The National Center for Health Statistics
BIRTHS: PRELIMINARY DATA FOR 2007  Objectives- This report presents preliminary data for 2007 on births in the United States.  U.S. data on births are shown by age, live birth order, race, and Hispanic origin of mother.  Data on marital status, cesarean delivery, and low birthweight are also presented.  Read full report...

2/19/09: From Rocky Mountain News
SEX AND THE REALITIES OF ABSTINENCE  How do we create a generation of young people who believe there is value in holding off on sex?  We do it with education. We do it with honesty. We do it with opportunity.  Read more...

1/29/09: From the National Partnership for Women and Families
'VIRGINITY PLEDGES' REDUCE LIKELIHOOD OF CONTRACEPTIVE USE, DO NOT AFFECT LIKELIHOOD OF PREMARITAL SEX, STUDY FINDS  According to this study, published in the December issue of Pediatrics, pledgers were "substantially less likely than matched nonpledgers to protect themselves" against STIs and pregnancy, which is consistent with the findings of earlier studies.  Read more...

1/14/09: From the National Partnership for Women and Families
CDC REPORTS RISE IN STIs; CHLAMYDIA RATES AT ALL-TIME HIGH  Rates of chlamydia and syphilis in the U.S. increased in 2007, with chlamydia rates reaching a record high, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday.  Read more...

1/8/09: From The Denver Post
TEEN PREGNANCY BACK ON THE RISE, CDC SAYS  The teen birthrate increased in more than half of states in 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's latest data, released Wednesday. In Colorado, the rate change wasn't statistically significant, but local experts say that's no reason to sigh in relief.  Read more...