March 21 The Center for Demographic Research at Auburn University at Montgomery published a study based on CDC and state health department statistics on teen sexual health in much of the Southern US. The opening paragraph of the Executive Summary lays out the abysmal conditions.
The United States has the highest rates of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases among all developed nations. This is even more severe in the southern region of the U.S. which has: higher teenage pregnancy rates; higher teenage births; a higher percentage of babies of low birth weight; and higher rates of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, than other regions of the country.
You can see the report through the
Ms. Foundation for Women site whose foundation commissioned the study.
For those not having the time to read the whole report now, I will try to touch on some of the discoveries. Much of the report deals with issues that are caused by or exacerbated by high rate of population growth and a high rate of poverty. Even though more 18 to 24 YO women in the South graduated from High School than elsewhere they had the lowest portion who went on to receive a Bachelor's degree or higher.
Teens in the South had a higher pregnancy rate than in other US regions, had more babies, and had more babies with low birth weight. (Low birth weight babies are known to be correlated with poor prenatal care and often with bacterial vaginosis leading to early C-sections).
Sexually transmitted infections are higher in this age group than in the rest of the US. This means first in chlamydia and gonorrhea and second behind the Northeast in diagnosed HIV cases.
Public sector spending including medical care from Medicaid and CHIP are higher here and over half of all births are paid for with public funds.
Although some medically accurate sex education sex ed is making a difference, too much Federal money still supports the abstinence only programs.
It is redundant to point out that support for republican troglodytes in this region is related to all these issues but it is.