Study Houston
Leads in Births Under age 15
By TODD ACKERMAN Copyright 2009 Houston
Chronicle
Aug. 31, 2009, 10:54PM
Consider that Texas arbitrarily raised the age of
conscent in the state of Texas – To help them nail a bunch of Mormons a case
after all was said and done netted the State nothing, and added to the number
of lawsuits the State is dealing with and paying for.
Consider that in public schools they are teaching
sex ed, masturbation, homosexuality, and to
kindergardeners, -- the schools are handing out condoms and encouraging sex
between students.
Consider that everything is being made legal to
these children – EXCEPT FOR MARRIAGE. If
the government insists that sex be taught in schools at early ages – then it
would seem prudent to demand that government lower the age of marriage. If they will not do so then they should not
and can not teach sex to young children.
It is one or the other, not two different stadards that only cause sin
and indecency, pregnancy and single unmarried mothers.
Even once these girls have birthed children at age
10,11, 12, 13, 14, they still can not get married –
this akin to being able to join the military and face death but not to be able
to vote. How is this protecting children? How is this healthy?
More girls
under 15 give birth in Houston than any other U.S.
city, according to a new national report, and many of the city's teen moms have
additional children before they turn 20.
The report by the research
organization Child Trends found that there were 20 percent more babies born to
girls 14 or younger in Houston than
in New York and Los Angeles in 2006 and that 24 percent of all Houston's teen
births were repeat births that year, the latest for which data is available. (These kids are
having school sanctioned and school encouraged sex and then becoming sexually
active at ages 10. 11. 12. 13, and 14)
“It's cause for concern,” said Jennifer Manlove, a senior
research scientist at Washington-based Child Trends, which uses data from the National Center for Health Statistics to produce
the annual report. “Teen births are increasing again, both nationally and in Texas.”
The
national increase noted in the report marked a second consecutive jump after a
14-year decline. Texas actually improved from
possessing the highest teen birth rate in 2005 to the third highest in 2006,
but only because its rate didn't increase as much as those of New
Mexico and Mississippi.
In
addition, Texas'
numbers were particularly unsettling in a number of subcategories.
Among
all births involving teenage mothers, Dallas
had the nation's highest percentage of repeat births — 28 percent. San Antonio was fourth with 26 percent, Fort Worth eighth with 25 percent and Houston
and Austin 14th and 15th, respectively, with 24 percent.
The
report was seized by Texas
child advocacy and health groups as one more indictment of the state's
abstinence-only education policy. (Nod nod wink wink)
“The
state of Texas
needs to understand that what it's doing isn't working,” said Robert Sanborn,
president and chief executive officer of Children at Risk. “No matter how many
reports show this kind of data, the Legislature continues to be blind to it.”
Sanborn
specifically criticized the 2009 Legislature for rejecting bills that would
have required schools to provide “medically accurate information” in addition
to promoting abstinence.
Sanborn
also said that the number of babies delivered by girls under 15 shows sex is
occurring at middle schools and that those schools need to recognize the
reality.
He
said he's all for emphasizing abstinence but that students who don't follow
such teaching should have access to information about contraception.
What drives rate?
A
study by the Texas Freedom Network earlier this year found 94 percent of Texas schools don't give
students any sex education beyond urging abstinence.
Sanborn
said he thought most middle schools don't mention sex at all.
Manlove
said Texas'
high teen birth rates are particularly driven by the state's large population
of Hispanics, in whom teenage motherhood is more culturally accepted than it is
in other ethnicities.
But
Sanborn and Ruth Buzi of Baylor College of Medicine's Teen Health Clinic said
teen birth rates are not as high in other cities with large Hispanic
populations but less restrictive sex educationoccur among married couples. The
national average is 14 percent.
todd.ackerman@chron.com