Reader comments
Utah's teen birth rate increases for first time in 10 years

Truth | 11:44 a.m. May 7, 2008

We could start by telling them that condoms don't prevent STD's or pregnancy.

There are many STD's that are passed despite the use of a condom, and 18% of mothers getting an abortion reported they got pregnant even though they used birth control.

Rob | 12:22 p.m. May 7, 2008

Another flawed study, making it seem as though high school kids are having sex and getting pregnant in record numbers. Notice, in order to get this increase 18 and 19 yr olds (adults) had to be thrown into the mix. I would say that the 18 and 19 yr olds are probably what is driving the numbers simply because our states predominate religion encourages marriage and starting a family when you are young.

Planned Parenthood | 12:28 p.m. May 7, 2008

I love the comment at the end by the Planned Parenthood stooge saying we need a "comprehensive" approach...

Well, let's look at the comprehensive approach to AIDS is going in San Fran....with all that has been done to educate the homosexual community, AIDS cases are on the rise in those heavily populated areas...

I guess a "comprehensive" approach isn't all it's cracked up to be....

The writer also fails to include how many of these "teen" births are to married versus unmarried.

I'd think that would be a question a reporter might want to ask....but not with today's reporters...

Comments continue below

Anonymous | 12:39 p.m. May 7, 2008

As it says in the article, as our hispanic population grows so will our teen birth rate.

I'm not condemning or trying to be racist. Just looking at the facts and trying to find answers.

Anyone with answers care to chime in?

Anonymous | 12:40 p.m. May 7, 2008

Utah's teen birthrate is 31 per 1000 teen girls. But the Hispanic teen birthrate is 105 per 1000 teen girls. And remind me which population again is growing fastest in Utah?

Demography is destiny. Welcome to your future.

Anonymous | 1:24 p.m. May 7, 2008

What's funny is that just yesterday this newspaper published an editorial commending a paper written by the Sutherland Institute, a group that has now come down on the side of both open borders and "family values."

One of the arguments in the pro-open borders paper by Sutherland was that Hispanics have strong family values. And then this gets published, showing that Hispanic teens in Utah are roughly four times as likely to get pregnant as other Utah teens.

Does the Deseret News ed board care to revise and extend its remarks?

shame on you, Anonymous! | 1:34 p.m. May 7, 2008

How many times must you be told that the influx of illegal aliens is GOOD for our country?

Family values, como que no | 1:42 p.m. May 7, 2008

"Family values" to the Sutherland Institute means that the heads of these families are willing to work for starvation wages so that the contributors to the Sutherland Institute can buy an extra SUV or vacation to Hawaii with the money they save on labor costs.

What's Working? | 2:15 p.m. May 7, 2008

I think there are a number of possible reasons why the Latina teenage birth rate is higher than all other ethnicities combined. Instead of focusing on "what's wrong" with the Latina population (because that's a very biased way to do research), we should focus on why all other birth rates are lower. Is it religion? Protestants tend to be more open to contraceptive use than Catholics. Is it access to contraception and education? Perhaps they don't have access because of finances (birth control pills are getting more and more expensive) and there may be a language barrier at places like Planned Parenthood or another clinic.
We need look at the reasons why all youth get pregnant and not single out a particular ethnicity if we want to work to lower the rates.

Rich | 2:21 p.m. May 7, 2008

Rob, thanks for blaming Mormonism for the increase. Unfortunately, your theory doesn't seem to bear up under close inspection. First, note that the Utah rate is below the national average, while Utah leads the nation in the number of Mormons per 1,000 teens. Second, our rate is increasing due to our growing Hispanic population, which has a far higher rate of teen pregnancy. Could it be that Utah's rate is lower than the national average precisely because the church preaches abstinence? And that's despite the fact that Mormons tend to marry younger than their counterparts from most other religions. Teaching children how to have safe sex has always had the opposite effect of what its proponents expect. Teaching abstinence does work. I'm not against providing information on birth control, but this information could come from a foundation based on the morally right thing to do, which is to avoid entirely having sexual relations before marriage.

Jeanie | 3:09 p.m. May 7, 2008

For those of you who are quick to blame the Mormons for this increase, may I remind you that the average age for a Mormon girl to marry is 23, not teen.

And BTW, why is there no mention either in the article or on the comment board about the fathers of these children? I guess paternity really does end at conception.

Rodney | 3:24 p.m. May 7, 2008

Why don't we just try to help the young mothers in trouble without condemning. People with eyes to see know what is going on. Just reach out.

Interloper | 3:40 p.m. May 7, 2008

Someone said:

"We could start by telling them that condoms don't prevent STD's or pregnancy."

That is absolutely false. Condoms are, in fact, the best way to prevent sexually transmitted diseases because they form a physical barrier between the organs. Condoms are also quite successful (more than 90 percent) at preventing pregnancy. For full protection, both condoms and another form of birth control should be used.

Someone else claimed:

"Teaching abstinence does work."

That is not true, either. The research is clear that providing children with both information and contraceptive options lowers teen pregnancy rates and the transmission of STDs.

The efforts to use the new data to promote racism are reprehensible.

I had not intended to comment on this thread because I am pressed for time. However, no one should ever let false statements like these stand unchallenged.

a.g. | 3:51 p.m. May 7, 2008

There's probably only 10 fathers per 1,000 teens. Those teen boys get around and no one cares, since it's not their fault is it?

Suse | 6:18 p.m. May 7, 2008

It's important to be open with kids about sex and where babies come from. My parents were open about it. I've had a healthy attitude about sex with the awareness my parents talked to me about. I was a virgin well into my 20s and I am NOT a LDS member.

The abstinence program that the government pushes does not work. As I was growing up, I saw kids who's parents never dared to mention the s*x words and those kids lost their virginity in their early teens and often did not practice safe sex at all. The kids whose parents were open about the intimacy about sex were like me, virgins into their 20s or until their marriage.

Sex education needs to express that there is a difference between making love and or humping without caring. I've have talked to my kids about where babies come from and the importance of a committed relationship with someone you love before children are brought into the world. Anytime my kids come to me with questions, I'll answer them as honestly as my parents did. It worked for me and I know it'll work for them.

Add your comment

Comments are monitored. Any comments found to be abusive, offensive, off-topic, misrepresentative, more than 200 words or containing URLs will not be posted.

Words Remaining

E-mail address: For internal use only. We may want to contact you to publish your comment (not your e-mail address) in the newspaper or for a separate story idea.