Those highly moral Red States have a teen pregnancy epidemic

[WI_DEM]

These are the states with the highest rates per 1,000 of teen pregnancy.

Top 20:
Mississippi
Texas
New Mexico
Arizona
Arkansas
Louisiana
Oklahoma
Georgia
Alabama
Tennessee
Nevada
South Carolina
North Carolina
Kentucky
Colorado
Delaware
West Virginia
Indiana
Florida
Missouri

Of the top 20 only 1 is a "Blue" state--Delaware ranked #16.

Here are the 10 states with the lowest rates of teen pregnancy per 1,000:
Pennsylvania
New York
Minnesota
North Dakota
New Jersey
Connecticut
Maine
Vermont
Massachusetts
New Hampshire

All but one (ND) are BLUE states.

http://www.dailykos.com
(you'll have to skip down a bit to find the story and tables)

Now I know that accidents can happen and we shouldn't judge others, even though some of these RED states believe they have a pipeline to God. But isn't it interesting that apparently teenagers in these RED states are engaging in sexual intercourse!! and apparently because they don't believe in planned parenthood without protection. tsk, tsk. But they dare judge us?

[yardwork]

1. The red states have the lowest education rates

and the highest rates for early mortality due to all diseases.

The red states are full of desperate people who are sick, poor, uneducated, underemployed, and too busy trying to hang onto life to pay much attention to what is really going on.

The Republicans like that just fine.

[rockymountaindem]

2. That may actually have something to do with why they are red states.

If people percieve that there is a lack of morals, they're more likely to vote for the reactionary candidate who is promising things like abstinance-only education. Perhaps this is one reason why they vote Republican in the first place.

[patcox2]

3. The racist answer: Its the blacks

And this is the answer that you will get if you ask many red state conservatives. Mississippi also, for example, has the highest percentage of black residents, and the mississippians will point this out to you if you bring the teen pregnancy rate to their attention.

[agates]

4. It is due to all that abstinence based sex-ed

If you teach and expect abstinence, kids won't have or carry condoms. Then when abstinence fails, they have unprotected sex. Remember, abstinence only works until it fails...

[RUDUing2]

5. research has shown that while abstinence only based sexual ed does

result in the kids waiting longer to have sex, when they do have sex it is more likely to be unprotected sex and result in STD's and/or pregnancy.

[raggedcompany]

6. here is a great comparison of Red States v. Blue States

link

props to varun for pointing this site out some time back.

[burn the bush]

7. when i put my daughter on birth control, the doctor said...

that so many people refuse to accept their kids having sex, that when he asks them if they are sexually active, the parent gets all shitty. Refuses to face reality. Then they come in pregnant he says. He said the truth is we did it, and they are going to do it too. So the red ideas of abstinance are not bad but not very realistic. Can u imagine being a red family teenage daughter who would like to talk to her parents about getting on the pill?