Can a reduction in the U.S. abortion rate be a direct result of AIDS awareness and better awareness of contraception?
According to Associated Press reports, experts who interpreted a recent study by the Alan Guttmacher Institute apparently think so.
The abortion rate fell 11 percent during the late 1990s among women of childbearing age to 21, and analysts have credited the decline to several factors - including fear of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases - along with more open discussion with young people about sex.
"People are really aware, and we talk more about abstinence and staying away from it altogether," said Shannon Kilcoyne, a high school senior from Greenville, S.C. "It's more of a fear of STDs. People always talk about how you have to know someone well enough to find out their past history and who they've had sex with."
So, unplanned pregnancy is not enough of a reason to use protection?
Sarah Brown, director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, noted that the drop in abortions was accomplished by a decline in teen sex, teen pregnancies and teen births over the last decade.
"This signals a deep and profound and robust change in adolescent sexual behavior in this country," she said.
Sure, the behavior has changed - but the motivation is misguided. Teens are apparently more mortified by diseases than unplanned pregnancy.
Essentially, the rate reduction is more of a secondary or tertiary result of AIDS and STD awareness, if at all.
If this study is any indicator of a lack of emphasis placed on preventing unplanned pregnancies, our focus should be broadened and our emphases strengthened.
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