Contrary to the common perception that teenage sex and pregnancy typically stem from two teenagers getting caught up in the heat of the moment, new research reveals that many teenage girls are being sexually exploited and impregnated by adult men.
In fact, a study prublished in the American Journal of Public Health [4/1996] found that adult men fathered two-thirds of the infants born to school-aged mothers in California in 1993. On average, these men were 4.2 years older than the senior-high mothers and 6.7 years older than the junior-high mothers.1
Likewise, a review of CA's 1990 vital statistics found that men older than high school age sired 77 percent of all births to high school-aged girls (ages 16-18) and 51 percent of births to junior high school-aged girls (15 and younger).
Men over age 25 fathered twice as many teenage births as did boys under age 18, and men over age 20 fathered five times more births to junior high school-aged girls than did junior high school-aged boys. 2
Unfortunately, this phenomenon is not limited to the state of CA. A recent study by the Population Reference Bureau found that about two-thirds of births to teenage girls nationwide are fathered by adult men age 20 or older.3 Additionally, the Alan Guttmacher Institute's 1994 report, "Sex and America's Teenagers", found that six of 10 girls who had sex before age 15 were coerced by males an average of six years their senior.4 The urban Institute cites a study showing that "three quarters of females who had sexual intercourse before age 14 reported having had sex involuntarily".5
That our culture at large has been slow to recognize this phenominon is not surprising. At one time, the picture of teenage pregnancy did look vastly different than it does today. In 1970, 7 of 10 teen births were within marriage. Today, the opposite is true — 7 of 10 births are out-of-wedlock6…and many the results of statory rape and victimization.
In many respects, the rise in statutory rape is the tragic and predictable consequence of the larger moral free-for-all that began during the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s. As sex was severed from the context of marriage and perceived barriers to personal "freedom" were torn down, the door was opened to a "liberation" in which predators were given easier access to the most vulnerable in our society.
Family Breakdown: Fatherlessness and Child Abuse
At the heart of this problem, as with most social pathologies, is the breakdown of the intact, two-parent family unit.
Over the last 25 years, the change in family patterns has been dramatic. It used to be that the man in every girl's life was her father. He was her protector and provider, shielding her honor and ensuring her safety. But between 1970 and 1995, the share of married-couple families with dependent children dropped by one-third, while the proportion of single-parent familes nearly doubled. In 1995, 18.9 million children lived with only one parent, compared with 8.2 million in 1970. Today, the large number of single-parent families are increasingly due to illegitimacy rather than divorce.7
________________________________________________________
Fatherlessness is associated
with increased risk of child sexual abuse.
______________________________________________________
Consequently, fewer fathers are around to protect and defend their daughters' safety. And with more girls lacking the love and attention that only a father can give, more of them are vulnerable to abuse, and that abuse leaves them willing to settle for perverse alternatives, namely, seeking intimacy with predatory adult men.
The research is clear: fatherlessness is associated with increased risk of child sexual abuse.
For example, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Health Interview Survey (1988) found that children from disrupted families are at a much higher risk for physical or sexual abuse than children from intact, two-parent families.8
A 1993 study in the British Journal of Psychiatry found that childhood sexual abuse occurred more frequently in women from disadvantaged and difficult family backgrounds, and that their risks of becoming a victim were increased if they came from a broken home. 9
Furthermore, children whose parents separate are significantly more likely to engage in early sexual activity than their peers from intact, two-parent families, according to a 1994 study in Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.10.
Dr. George Rekers of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine found that compared with girls in intact nuclear families, girls who lost their fathers through divorce were overly responsive to males, more likely to be sexually involved with males in adolescence, and more often pregnant before marriage. 11
David Murray, a social anthropologist, explains the effects of illegitimacy on girls this way: "For the girls, at earliest nubility comes predation by older males, undeterred by a resident father who would protect her honor and her safety." 12
One might mistakenly presume that the presence of a male figure, besides the father, would help alleviate the situation. But in fact, when illegitaimacy or divorce results in a subsequent marriage, remarriage, or cohabiting relationship, the likelihood of child abuse increases.
According to a study by the Canadian researchers Mar5tin Daly and Margo Wilson, preschool children in stepfamilies are 40 times as likely as children in intact families to suffer physical or sexual abuse. 13
Additionally, a 1994 study in the Journal of Comparative Family Studies found that, of 52,000 child abuse cases, 72 percent involved children living in a household without one or both biological parents, even though such households comprise roughly a third of all households with children. 14
Not only is fatherlessness associated with child abuse, but abused children are also more vulnerable to further exploitation, particularly further sexual exploitation. Kathy Szafran, residential program director for the Florence Crittenton Homes and Services in
West Virginia, was quoted in The Washington Times as saying, "It shouldn't be hard to see 'why a child who's been molested since age 7 is acting out sexually at age 14.'"
Indeed, research shows that teenage mothers whose babies were fathered by adult men are disproportionately the childhood victims of sexual assault by adult men. 15
A 1992 Washington state study of 535 adolescent mothers found that 62 percent of the teenage mothers had had a history of rape or sexual molestation by men whose ages averaged 27 years. 16 This study found that, compared with momabused mothers, abused adolescent mothers initiated sex earlier, had sex with much older partners, and engaged in riskier, more frequent, and promiscuous sex. 17
In a recent edition of Newsweek, Joe Klein poignantly described the connection between fatherlessness, child abuse, and subsequent sexual victimization when he recounted the personal testimony of a girl whom he called Charlette: "The guy's name was Mickey. He was older, in his mid-20s. Charlette was going through a bad time. Her stepfather had come home from prison, was beating her mother, and was beating on her. 'I lived in the streets for a while, starting when I was 14,' she said. 'I was young and vulnerable. I had problems. He was going to protect me, teach me things, discipline my mind. But when I told him I was pregnant, he was gone. I began to ask around…I found he had six other children, mostly with younger girls. I was naive, and he took advantage of me.'" Joe Klein later remarked, "As for the girls, who are inevitably fatherless, Charlette's yearning for protection — for a father — seems entirely comprehensible."18
Fatherlessness, however, not only creates the environment for more vulnerable girls, it also healps create more predatory males. Research shows that boys who grow up without fathers are far more likely to engage in violent behavior and promiscuity than those who grow up in two-parent homes.
According to a 1990 article by Nicholas Davidson in Policy Review, 60 percent of America's rapists grew up in homes without fathers. 19
Furthermore, a research review by Dr. George Rekers of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine found that the fatherless boys exhibit greater aggressiveness or exaggerated masculine behavior. 20
It is also important to note that many of these predatory adult men may have originated from fatherless families in which they, too, had been abused.
Family Breakdown: The Lack of Parental Supervision
Ensuring that children receive adequate parental supervision is already a difficult task in today's two-parent homes, because the financial constraints of modern-day life make it increasingly difficult for one parent to saty at home full-time. But when parents face single-parenthood because of divorce or illegitimacy, the difficulties of supervising their children are compounded.
Research shows that teenagers who are subject to less adult supervision are more likely to engage in sexual activity. This association applies not only to homes which lack parental supervision during the day, but also to neighborhoods in which a high percentage of the adult labor force works full-time. This effect suggests that teenagers who are less closely supervised have more opportunities to engage in sexual behavior.
While the amount of parental and/or adult supervision that a teenager receives during the day is difficult to measure, researchers have often used maternal employment as a proxy for adult supervision, since much teen sexual activity today takes place after school in the homes of "latchkey" children.
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The effect of maternal employment on early intercourse is greater for teens with mothers employed full-time than for adolescents with mothers employed part-time.
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For example, a 1993 study published in Public Health Reports found that young males who have mothers that work full-time are significantly more likely (by 89 percent in blacks and 26 percent in nonblacks) to have initiated intercourse that are boys with non-employed mothers. Young black males who have mothers that work for pay part-time are 56 percent more likely to have started having intercourse 6than are those whose mothers are not employed. 20
The same study also found that the effect of maternal employment on early intercourse is greater for teens with mothers employed full-time than for adolescents with mothers employed part-time. Compared with non-employed mothers, part-time work is associated with a 26 percent increase in early intercourse and full-time work is associated with a 45 percent increase. 21
Furthermore, a 1994 study in the Journal of Marriage and the Family reported that white females whose mothers are employed outside the home are more likely to have had intercourse than females whose mothers are not employed. 23
This same study also found that the percentage of female labor force participants who are employed full-time in a given neighborhood is associated with an increased likelihood of premarital sexual activity among young women in the neighborhood. This effect, which is consistent in both black and white female teenagers, (24) suggests that the deterrent effect of having a parent in the home may be undermined somewhat if the girl's boyfriend goes home to an empty house after school.
Additionally, a 1994 study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that white teenage girls whose mothers work for pay full-time outside the home are more likely to lead promiscuous lives as adults (have multiple partners) than girls whose mothers do not work for pay full-time. 25
Erosion of Cultural Protections
While absent fathers figure prominently in this new phenomenon of child abuse, they are not solely to blame for the devastation. Cultural influences such as the media and schools have also failed to protect children.
Television and movies regularly expose children to sexually explicit images, glamorizing sex and violence. While the instances of this type of cultural pollution are too numberous to count, one particular example should be noted here. An (March 1996) episode of the television prime time drama Chicago Hope, featured a storyline in which a 14-year-old girl was having sex with an adult man. The drama explored both viewpoint
s about why it was either permissible or impermissible for the young girl to be having sex with an adult6 man, but in the end, the show condoned their sexual relations because they were "in love".
In addition to the media, schools have now taken up the mantle of exposing children to sexually explicit information — this time, in the guise of "sex education". Many school administrators have mistakenly concluded that the way to "prevent" the problem of teen pregnancy is to expose children at progressively younger and younger ages to more explicit sex education in the school, so that children can learn how to protect themselves with condoms, etc. But this scenario is a textbook case in which the "cure" is far worse than the disease.
The results of the National Survey of Adolescent Males published in the 11/1993 issue of Public Health Reports show that young males who were taught about birth control were more likely to experiment with sex at an earlier age than if they had received no (formal) instruction. (26)
Furthermore, explicit sex education can tear down the natural inhibitions and defenses of both young boys and girls, leaving them vulnerable to sexual predators. Indeed, pedophiles often use pornography to lure their young victims.27
In spite of this, the Sex Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS), a federally-funded nationally-recognized organization, has issued national sex education guidelines which promote teaching kindergarnters about masturbation and junior and senior high school students about the "benefits" of pornography, among other topics. 28
Erosion of Legal Protections
Declining cultural norms and values also have a detrimental effect on laws intended to protect children. When the culture condones particular kinds of illegal behavior, the law loses its authority to prosecute. This has clearly been the case with statutory rape laws.
___________________________________________
Explicit sex education can tear down
the natural inhibitions and defenses of both young boys and girls,
leaving them vulnerable to sexual predators.
Indeed, pedophiles often use pornography
to lure their young victims.
______________________________________________
Laws against statutory rape were originally designed to protect adolescent girls – typically aged 16 and under – from sex under any circumstance, regardless of whether there was "consent". These laws were premised on the belief that young girls were too immature to be having sex and that they could no more give meaningful consent to sexual activity than they "could consent to work nights as a stripper in a bar." (29) But during the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, states began to change their laws to reflect more permissive cultural attitudes.
First, the age of consent for sexual activity was lowered or altered. In 2 states, Hawaii and Pennsylvania, 14 years is the age of consent. Many other laws were changed to say that having sex with a young teenage girl was statutory rape, but sex with a girl in her mid-teens was only considered statutory rape if the male was three or gour years older than she was. In other words, a 15-year-old girl could have sex with a 15-year-old boy, but not with a 19-year-old man. 30
For example, in Virginia, 18 is the age of consent. However, a person can oly be prosecuted for rape if the victim is under 13 years old. A lesser felony offense can be charged if a person 3 or more years older has consensual intercourse with a 13- or 14 year-old, but it is only a misdemeanor if the offender is less than 3 years older. It is also considered only a misdemeanor if a person over 18 has consensual intercourse with a child aged 15 or older. 31
In Indiana, where the age of consent is 16, there is no longer a crime of statutory rape, Instead, the state can charge an adult with child molestation if the child is under age 14, or with sexual misconduct if the minor is 14 or 15 years old. However, the sexual misconduct charge can only be leveled at people 18 years and older. Thus, a 17-year-old who has sex with a 14-year-old could not be charged with sexual misconduct. 32
Although it may seem absurd that the United States allowed the age of sexual consent to be lowered at all, the example of Britain's current exploration on lowering their own age of sexual consent laws is revealing. Indeed, the arguments being currently used by British proponents of lowering the age of consent mirror the arguments that led the U.S. down this slippery slope.
Consider the comments of Alison Hadley of The Brook Advisory Centres, which runs 27 National Health Service-funded birth control clinics [sic]for teenagers and young adults in England, Scotland, and Ulster:
"Teenagers under 16 don't automatically put a brake on their raging hormones and postpone having sex just because it is decreed in law. The age of consent also presupposes that we all mature at the same time. We don't. We often see mature girls of 14 as well as 16-year-olds with plenty of growing still to do. Like it or not, many 14- and 15-year-olds are having sex." 33
Unfortunately, the United States knows all too well about the devastating consequences of that perverse logic.
Laws against statutory rape were originally designed
to protect adolescent girls from sex under any circumstance,
regardless of whether there was 'consent'.
Second, lax law enforcement of statutory rape crimes have added fuel to the fire. Few courts have given priority to the prosecution of adults who have sex with minors, expecially because they are pressed with many other cases of violent delinquency and child abuse.
But prosecutors say that the biggest stumbling block against bringing a case to court is the girls themselves. Many girls are reluctant, if not hostile witnesses who either recant or refuse to testify against their adult "lovers", the fathers of their children. (34) The girls may also decline to name the father if they fear retaliation. 35
In addition, parents have not usually understood that they can seek legal protection through the courts. Parents may ask a juvenile court judge to declare the girl "ungovernable" and order her not to see the man. But such cases are low in priorities for courts. and a court order may not stop stubborn lovers anyway.
If juvenile court santions fail, parents can take the next step and press criminal charges. But police and prosecutors say they're often hamstrung in these cases, by parnets afraid that if the law gets involved, their daughters will run away, and by lack of evidence when lovestruck girls refuse to testify. 36
Third, the law has not always upheld the rights of parents to protect their children's innocence. For example, the federal family planning program — Title X of the Public Health Service Act — undermines parental authority in their children's reporductive health decision-making. Title X is a categorical grant program which give federal funds to family planning clinics [sic] all around the country. Title X clinics [sic] offer contraceptives, pelvic exams, pregnancy tests, screening for sexually-transmitted diseases, and sexual health counseling to minors without parental notification or consent. 37
However, even though the actual law specifies that family participation is to be encouraged, the federal policy guidelines state that clinics [sic] receiving Title X support must guarantee patient confidentiality, and this mandate has been upheld by the courts.38
Furthermore, Title X clinics [sic] have no provisions regarding the reporting of suspected cases of statutory rape.
In fact, these clinics [sic] may be indirectly aiding and abetting the problem in at least 4 ways: (1) the clinic [sic] does not involve parents, even in cases where the child is very young and is admittedly "sexually active"; (2) the clinic's [sic] dispensation of contraceptives can mask a problem that might otherwise be brought to light; (3) clinics [sic] will see and treat "any woman, regardless of age", even when that "woman" is 11 or 12 years old,39 and (4) counselors are not trained to look for cases of statutory rape nor are they required to report any suspected cases of statutory rape to local law enforcement.
That omission is especially horrendous in light of the current data which show that two-thirds of all teenage births are fathered by adult men.
Renew Efforts to Prosecute Statutory Rape
The most direct way to address the problem of statutory rape is through the law enforcement system. California Governor Pete Wilson has cracked down on statutory rapists as part of his state's campaign against teenage pregnancy. Last summer he allocated $2.4 million to a pilor program for 16 counties to begin prosecuting men who engage in sex with underage girls, and in January 1996, he pledged $6 million more for a statewide crackdown. 40
…
____________________________________________
Few courts have given priority
to the prosecution of adults who have sex with minors
_______________________________________
Efforts must also be made to change the rhetoric and perception under which minors are viewed as mature decision-makers. For example, in the Alan Guttmacher Institute's 1994 report, "Sex and America's Teenagers", adolescent girls who have been exploited by adult men are repeatedly referred to as "sexually-experienced women." (44)
The Alan Guttmacher Institute, Planned Parenthood, and other proponents of aggressive marketing of contraceptives and abortions to minor children have consistently refused to use language that reinforces the need for special protection for teenage girls and boys — especially that provided by their families.
____________________________________________
Title X clinics [sic] have no provisions regarding the reporting
of suspected cases of statutory rape. In fact, these clinics [sic]
may be indirectly aiding and abetting the problem.
______________________________________________
The use of "women" in this context serves the purpose of fostering an egalitarian drive to repeal parental rights statutes, but masks the emotional and psychological immaturity that makes sexual activity at this stage of life especially risky. 45
Finally, states should seriously consider raising the age of sexual consent laws to mirror the age of marriage laws. Currently, 16 is the age os sexual consent in most states, but the minimum legal age of marr5iage in most states is 18. 46 (A few states have higher ages for marriage, but no state's marriage law is below the age of 18, except with parental consent.) This action would not only allow states to legally prosecute the statutory rape cases which occur during the later teen years (ages 16-17), but it would also help to relink sex to its proper context within marriage.
Strengthen the Family
While public policy can directly address the problem of statutory rape through legislative means, its ability to impact the root cause of statutory rape — family breakdown — is only indirect at best. After all, the law cannot — and should not — dictate to families hwo to raise their children, but the law can ans should encourage behaviors which help strengthen the family through the use of incentives and disincentives.
For example, in order to discourage illegitimacy, public policy makers have sought to implement a "family cap", a measure which would halt additional welfare payments to mothers who bear further illegitimate children while on welfare. Public policy makers have also sought to overturn no-fault divorce laws and/or elevate marriage from a "contract" to a "covenant" relationship in order to support the permanency of marriage. Furthermore, laws which provide tax relief for families as well as policies which provide employees with more flexible work hours and/or work-at-home arrangements may help to increase parental suprvision of children.
While the aforementioned policies are sound and can be very helpful, they alone cannot break the cycle of illegitimacy and divorce, especially because the scourges of illegitimacy and divorce are transferred through generations. That is, children whose parents are unmarried or divorced are more likely to also one day bear illegitimate children or have their own marriages end in divorce. 47
Thus, other non-public policy means of prevention must be encouraged as well.
___________________________________________
States should seriously
consider raising the age
of sexual consent laws
to mirror the age of marriage laws.
___________________________________________
…
Conclusion
The current trend of adult men impregnating teenage firls is a natural consequence of family breakdown and its subsequent effects on culture and the law. But what children need now is what they have always needed — for adults to protect their innocence.
They need fathers and mothers who will love and supervise them, laws that punish statutory rapists, and a culture which values and upholds the sacredness of marital sex, the permanency of marriage, and the authority of parents.
— Gracie Hsu
FRC Policy Analyst
["Statutory Rape: The Dirty Secret Behind Teen Sex Numbers", Family Policy, a publication of Family Research Council, vol. 9, number3]
ENDNOTES
1. "The Ages of Fathers in California Adolescent Births, 1993", American Journal of Public Health, vol.86, No4, April 1996, pp.565-568.
2.Mike Males, "Poverty, Rape, Adult/Teen Sex: Why 'Pregnancy Prevention' Programs Don't Work," Phi Delta Kappan, January 1994, pp. 407-410.
3. Carol J, De Vita, "The United States at Mid-Decade," Population Bulletin, vol 50, no 4, Washington D.C.: Population Reference Bureau, Inc, March 1996.
4 The Alan Guttmacher Institute, "Sex and America's Teenagers," 1994.
5. The Washington Times Editorial Board, "The Fathers of Teen Mothers, " The Washington Times, 9Apr1996.
6. Kristin A. Moore and Nancy O. Snyder, "Facts At A Glance," Child Trends, January 1996.
7. Carol J. De Vita, "The United States at Mid-Decade", Population Bulletin, vol.50, no.4, (Washington, D.C.: Population Reference Bureau, Inc. March 1996).
8. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey, Hyattsville, MD, 1988.
9. Paul E. Mullen et al, "Child Sexual Abuse and Mental Health in Adult Life", British Journal of Psychiatry, 163: 721-732, 1993.
10. David M. Ferguson, John Horwood, and Michael T. Lynsky, "Parental Separation, Adolescent Psychopathology, and Problem Behaviors," Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 33(1994), pp. 1122-1131.
11. "The Impact of Father Absence and Family Breakdown on Children's Sexual Development," In Focus, Family Research Council, 1993.
12. David Murray, "Marriage and Economic Liberty: A Wedded Fate," Religion & Liberty, Action Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, vol5, no6, Nov/Dec 1995.
13. Margo I. Wilson and Martin Daly, "Risk of Maltreatment of Children Living With Stepparents," in Richard J. Gelles and Jane B. Lancaster, Child Abuse and Neglect: Biosocial Dimensions, New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1987, pp. 215-232.
14. Catherine M. Malkin and Michael E. Lamb, "Child Maltreatment: A Test of Sociobiological Theory," Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 25 (1994), pp. 121-130.
15. H.P. Gershenson, J.S. Musick, H.S. Ruch-Ross, V. Magee, K.K. Rubino, and D. Rosenberg, "The Prevalence of Coercive Sexual Experience Among Teenage Mothers," Journal of Interpersonal Violence, vol 4, pp. 204-219. 1989.
16. Debra Boyer and David Fine, "Sexual Abuse as a Factor in Adolescent Childbearing and Child Maltreatment," Family Planning Perspectives, vol 24, 1992, pp. 4-11, 19.
17. Ibid.
18. Joe Klein, "The Predator Problem", Newsweek, April 29, 1996, p. 32.
19. Nicholas Davidson, "Life Without Father," Policy Review, Winter 1990, pp. 40-44.
20. "The Impact of Father Abscence and FAmily Breakdown on Children's Sexual Development", op cit.
21. Ku, F.L. Sonenstein and J.H. Pleck, "Factors Influencing First Intercourse for Teenage Men," Public Health Reports, 108: 680-694, 1993. Data based on the 1988 National Survey of Adolescent Males (NSAM).
22. Ibid.
23. John O.G. Billy, Karin L. Brewster, and William R. Grady, "Contextual Effects on the Sexual Behavior of Adolescent Women," Journal of Marriage and the Family, 56 (May 1994): 387-404.
24. Ibid.
25. Stuart N. Seidman, William D. Mosher, and Sevgi O. Aral. "Predictors of High-Risk Behavior in Unmarried American Women: Adolescent Environment as Risk Factor," Journal of Adolescent Health, 15: 126-132, 1994.
26. L. Ku, F.L. Sonenstein, and J.H. Pleck, "Factors Influencing First Intercourse for Teenage Men", Public Health Reports, 108: 680-694, 1993.
27. Final Report of the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 1986.
28. National Guidelines Task Force, "Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Kindergarten-12th Grade", SIECUS, 1991.
29. Arnold Beichman, "'Quentin Quail' Arrest Strategy", The Washington Times, 1 April 1996.
30. Cheryl Wetzstein, "Most Teen Moms are Impregnated by Men, Not Boys: New Prevention Strategies Urged," The Washington Times, 26Apr1996.
31. "Statutory Rape: A Look at Laws State by State," USA Today, 28March1996, p.2A. As cited from source, state penal codes collected by the National Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse and the National Center of Child Abuse and Neglect.
32. "Age of Consent for Sex Vaires According to State," The Indianopolis News, 14Sept1995.
33. John Illman, "Lets' Talk About Sex: Should We Now Consider Lowering the Age of Heterosexual Consent?" The Guardian, 1March 1994, p. 18.
34. Patricia Edmonds, "Teen Pregnancy Revives Laws on Statutory Rape", USA Today, 28March 1996.
35. Kathryn Wexler, "California Cracks Down on Men to Curb Underage Pregnancies", The Washington Post, 6April 1996, p. A3.
36. Patricia Edmonds, "Teen Pregnancy Revives Laws on Statutory Rape", USA Today, 28March 1996.
37. The Alan Guttmacher Institute, "The U.S. Family Planning Program Faces Challenges and Change", Issues in Brief, June 1995. See 42 C.F.R., part 59, subpart A (1994).
38. Lisa Kaeser, R, B. Gold, and Cory L. Richards, Title X at 25, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1996, p.9. See Planned Parenthood Federation of America v. Heckler and National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association v. Department of Health and Human Services, U,S, Ct. App. Nos. 83-1232 and 83-1239, July 8, 1983, and the State of New York and the New York State Department of Health v. Heckler and Medical Healt6h Research Association of New York City et al v. Heckler, U.S. Ct. App (2nd Cir) Nos 1318 and 1531, Oct 7, 1983.
39. The Alan Guttmacher Institute, "The U.S. Famil;y Planning Program Faces Challenges and Change", Issues in Brief, June 1995, p.4.
40. Elizabeth Gleick, J. Bonfante, "Putting the Jail in Jailbait", Time, 29January 1996.
41. Patricia Edmonds, "Teen Pregnancy Revives laws on Statutory Rape," USA Today, 28Mar1996.
42. Ibid.
43. Elizabeth Gleick, J. Bonfante, op. cit.
44. op. cit.
45. Charles Donovan, Sr. "Sex and America's Teenagers: One Bad Myth Deserves Another," Insight, Family Research Council, 1994.
46. "Premarital Requirements in the United States," Ohio Department of Health, Division of Public Health Labs, April 1986. Acquired from the National Ctr for Health Statistics, U.S. Dept. of HHS.
47. Lawrence L. Wu and Brian C. Martinson, "Family Structure and the Risk of a Premarital Birth," American Sociological Review, vol 58, 1993, pp. 210-232. Also, David B. Larson, James P. Swyers, and Susan S. Larson, The Costly Consequences of Divorce, National Institute for Healthcare Research, Rockville, MD, 1995, pp.211-214.
48. David B. Larson, J.P. Swyers, and S.S. Larson, op cit, pp.244-248.
49. John Billy, K.L. Brewster, W.R. Grady, "Contextual Effects on the Sexual Behavior of Adolescent Women", Journal of Marriage and the Family 56: 387-404, May 1994. Also, A. Thornton, W.G. Axinn, and D.H. Hill, "Religiosity, Cohibitation, and Marriage" American Journal of Sociology, vol 98, no, 3, 1992, pp. 628-651.
50. L. Ku, F.L. Sonenstein, and J.H. Pleck, "Factors Influencing First Intercourse for Teenage Men", Public Health Reports, 108: 680-694, 1993. Data based on the 1988 National Survey of Adolescent Males (NSAM).
["Statutory Rape: The Dirty Secret Behind Teen Sex Numbers", Family Policy, a publication of Family Research Council, vol. 9, number3, 4/1998]