Teen Abortion & Pregnancy Rates

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Alex Berezow, scientist and founding editor of RealClearScience, provided the chart above representing teenagers aged 15-19. The following are the teenage pregnancy rates: (1) White – less than 1 in 20, (2) Blacks – more than 1 in 9, and (3) Hispanics – almost exactly 1 in 10. “In other words,” writes Berezow, “both black and Hispanic teens are more than twice as likely to become pregnant as their white cohorts. Strikingly, the abortion rate among black teens (41.1 per 1,000) is almost equal to the pregnancy rate among white teens.” Research shows again and again how detrimental broken families (including single motherhood) are to economic vitality and social mobility. “Therefore,” concludes Berezow, “any discussion about how to close the enormous racial wealth gap in America must address the large discrepancy in teenage pregnancy rates between the races.”

This reminds me of something economist Jennifer Roback Morse wrote about “social justice”:

Young people are often the most idealistic and zealous proponents of new social movements. So, I offer this challenge especially to the young: if you want to do something to help the poor, quit idealizing unmarried sexual activity. Some sexual lifestyle decisions you can get away with. But those very same choices would be a disaster for the poor.

So I challenge college students and young adults to ask yourself this question when you are making your decisions about sex: If a high-school drop-out did this, would it be good for her or not?

If the answer is no, don’t do it! Or at least, have the decency to keep your mouth shut about social justice.

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