NYC Teen Pregnancy Rate Plunges
Using a program of comprehensive sex education and increased access to both regular contraception as well as emergency contraception, the New York City
Department of Health has managed to shrink the teen pregnancy rate by 27 percent for the decade ending in 2010, according to MSNBC.
“We’re seeing that there are two things happening: teens are both delaying sex, and those that are having sex are more likely to use contraceptives,” [said] Deborah Kaplan, assistant commissioner of the New York City Department of Health’s Bureau of Maternal, Infant and Reproductive Health.
Kaplan emphasizes that the program’s success wouldn’t be possible without both education and contraception.
The city’s decision to offer emergency contraception to high school students is part of a larger effort by educational institutions to make sure
adolescents and young women have access to the health care advance despite continued regulatory obstruction from the Food and Drug Administration. It’s
also a testament to the inherent safety of emergency contraception, and the Center for Reproductive Rights will continue to fight for it to be brought out
from behind the pharmacy counter and made available without a prescription for anyone who needs it.