- About one million teenage girls — 11% of all girls aged 15-19 (112 per 1,000) and 20% of those who have had sexual intercourse (204 per 1,000) — become pregnant each year.
- Eighty-five percent of teenage pregnancies are unplanned, accounting for one-quarter of all unplanned pregnancies each year.
- Most teenage pregnancies each year (960,000 in 1992) end in birth; about one-fourth end in abortion (20%) and the rest in miscarriage (14%).
- Among sexually experienced teenagers, about 16% of 14-year-olds, 17% of 15- 17-year-olds, and 23% of 18-19-year-olds become pregnant each year.
- Teenage pregnancy rates are much higher in the United States than in many other developed countries — twice as high as in England and Wales, France and Canada; and 9 times as high as in the Netherlands or Japan.
- Of all births to U.S. women, 13% are to teenagers.
- Twenty percent of U.S. abortions each year are to teenagers.
- A majority of teens (55%) say when teens have unplanned pregnancies, it's "often" a result of having sex when drunk or on drugs. Forty-six percent say it's "often" because teens have sex when they don't have birth control with them.
- The GOOD NEWS is that more and more teens are learning about sexual ABSTINENCE, and so are deciding to avoid sexual contacts, or stop having sexual contacts, until they get married. In this way, they can stop worrying about the physical and emotional dangers of sexual activity.
- The national 2001 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey found that more than 54 percent of students, grades 9 through 12, have never been sexually active. And, HHS Secretary Thompson released a new report showing birthrates among teenagers fell for the 10th straight year to a new record low in 2001. Prepared by the CDC, the report, "Births: Preliminary Data for 2001," shows the teen birthrate dropped 5 percent in 2001, from 48.5 births/1,000 females aged 15-19 in 2000 to 45.9 in 2001. Since 1991, the overall teen birthrate has declined 26 percent.
- Younger teens made the best progress: the birthrate for teenagers 15-17 years old fell 8 percent in 2001, and has dropped 35 percent since 1991. The rate for teens 18-19 years of age dropped 4 percent in 2001 and has fallen 20 percent since 1991.
