WASINGTON, D.C.—The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy announced at a news conference today that the organization is shifting its primary focus from teens to young adults in their early 20s. Women in their 20s are believed to have the highest number of unplanned pregnancies.
Judy Woodruff, member of the Board of Directors of the National Campaign, followed by Thomas H. Keane, Chairman of the Board, announced the new phase that the organization was entering.
Keane, former governor of New Jersey, stressed that the National Campaign would still maintain a "sharp focus on teen pregnancy."
One-third of pregnancies in the United States are "unwanted," according to analysis 2001 data from the National Center for Health Statistics, used by the National Campaign. Two million of the 6.4 million pregnancies in 2001 were "unwanted" or "unintended." Of these two million, over half (54 percent) occur to women in their twenties.
Furthermore, the rate of unwanted pregnancy in the United States increased slightly during 1999-2001 from 31.9 to 33.2 per 1,000 women aged 15-44. In every age group, with the exception of teens, the rate of unwanted pregnancies was on the rise.
"Only teens seem to be making progress," said Dr. Isabel V. Sawhill, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and President of the Board of Directors.
What is propelling this new front on unwanted pregnancies is not only the gloomy data, which being from 2001, is hardly recent. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy was selected by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to lead the effort of reducing unwanted pregnancies of young adults. The Foundation has made a 10-year commitment to preventing unwanted pregnancy and reducing the number of abortions in America.
Judy Woodruff is also a Senior Correspondent of the PBS' the News Hour with Jim Lehrer.
Teen Pregnancy Down
The National Campaign takes some credit for the surprisingly large reductions in teen pregnancies. The teen pregnancy rate declined 36% between 1990 and 2002. The teen birth rate fell one-third during 1991-2005, and the abortion rate dropped 50% between 1988 and 2005, according to data cited by the National Campaign from the Guttmacher Institute.
Governor Keane referred to the 50 percent drop in teen abortion rate as a "very special accomplishment."
Now, this bi-partisan, non-profit, "research-based" organization wants to expand its coverage to young adults. Their first step is to educate people about the problem. The public holds on to out-dated views of teenagers and abortions.
"Even though less than 20 percent of all abortions are to teens, four out of five Americans think the percentage is higher (often much higher)," states a conclusion from a national representative survey conducted by Glover Park group and Public Strategies Inc. 77 percent of Americans assume that teens have the highest number of unplanned pregnancies when in fact, women in their 20s do, according to the survey. This survey was conducted two weeks before the news release and was released today.
The concerns of the National Campaign for teen pregnancies and abortions have not gone away. "...the United States still has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and birth among comparable countries," according to analysts of the National Campaign. Three out of 10 girls in the U.S. become pregnant by age 20, according to the National Campaign.
'Unwanted' Pregnancies
As it was used by the National Campaign, unwanted/unintended pregnancies are defined as when the mother says the birth (or the miscarriage) was from an unwanted pregnancy, or when the pregnancy ends in abortion—1.3 million each year. The act of abortion is considered prima-facie evidence that the pregnancy was unwanted.
Their definition of "unwanted pregnancy" should not to be confused with pregnancies that are mistimed. It is counted as "unwanted" when the mothers who underwent birth (or suffered a miscarriage) made it clear that they did not want the child at the time of conception, "or ever in the future."
There may be a flaw in their research in that abortions were included that were carried out because of health risks to the mother or the fetus showing severe abnormal characteristics, and may have been originally planned pregnancies. However, these abortions are, relatively speaking, very few.
The National Campaign says it is working with researchers to refine the analysis and create new measures of unintended/unwanted pregnancy.
Consequences of Unwanted Pregnancies
The National Campaign literature provides data that show the negative consequences of unwanted pregnancies. One important factor is that women who experience an unwanted pregnancy are less likely than women who had an intended pregnancy to obtain early prenatal care. As a result, their infants are at increased risk of low birth weight and of being born prematurely, according to the National Campaign.
Another consequence of unwanted pregnancies is that three-fourths of the children are born to unmarried women, according to Dr. Sawhill. There are a number of credible sources cited by the National Campaign that show that illegitimate children are more likely to be poor, drop out of high school, have lower grade-point averages, lower college aspirations, and poorer school attendance records.
Of course, the most obvious consequences of unwanted pregnancies are the 1.3 million abortions in the United States. Whatever one thinks about abortion, most everyone agrees with the goal of reducing the number.
"By reducing the high number of unplanned, unwanted pregnancies…young people will have more opportunities and control over their lives, their children will grow up in intact, married families, there will be less poverty, lower public costs, a lighter burden on taxpayers, and less need for abortion," said Sarah Brown, Chief Executive Officer of the National Campaign.
Ambivalence of Young Adults
The National Campaign message of reducing unwanted pregnancies is not controversial but the methods it endorses are not universally accepted. The National Campaign endorses policies for the use of contraceptives among those who are sexually active but not ready to be parents. It also supports policies that favor refraining from sexual activity.
It should therefore be a fairly straightforward message to bring to the young adult population in their 20s, who now have the majority of the large number of unplanned, unwanted pregnancies. However, Ms. Brown gave the audience an idea of the challenge facing them. She quoted from one woman from one of their focus groups, which she said was typical:
"I don't want to get pregnant but at the same time, I am not on birth control."
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