Teen Pregnancy Rate Highest in Most Religious States.

U.S. states whose residents have more conservative religious beliefs on average tend to have higher rates of teenagers giving birth, a new study suggests. They found a strong correlation between statewide conservative religiousness and statewide teen birth rate even when they accounted for income and abortion rates.The relationship could be due to the fact that communities with such religious beliefs (a literal interpretation of the Bible, for instance) may frown upon contraception, researchers say. If that same culture isn't successfully discouraging teen sex, the pregnancy and birth rates rise.

TPJ: I'm not surprised one bit by the results of this study. On average, teen agers are going to have sex regardless of how much fear of "God" you pump into them because human, animal instinct will trump cerebral religiosity nearly every time. So if you're not taking the urge to have sex at that age seriously enough to provide a backup plan for teens (contraception) if they do choose to have sex you are actually putting your kids in more danger.

You are risking your child getting STDs, HIV/AIDS and teen pregnancy, which often leads to broken marriages. Plus, you're risking the baby of the teen parents being unwanted and that leads to dysfunctional children and homes. It's the classic example of too much control, too little realism combined to create more problems then trust and practical planning.

If you are against a woman's right to choose an abortion, pro-abstinence but also anti-contraception then I have a hard time taking your desire to reduce abortions seriously as the unrealistic nature of abstinence leads to more unplanned pregnancies. Thus a greater risk of increased abortion rates. It's yet another reason that the radically religious often aren't in touch with reality.

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