Is abstinence only effective?



New Hampshire is taking a broad approach to teen pregnancy prevention.  With the lowest rate of teen pregnancy in the nation, NH officials focus broad spectrum approach which includes but doesn't totally rely on abstinence only.

Twenty six states have rejected federal grants for abstinence only programs. The state with the lowest teen pregnancy rate is not one of them. New Hampshire leads the nation  with a teen birth rate of 19 per 1000. New Hampshire also has the lowest overall birth rate in America.
The four states with the lowest teen birth rate per thousand are all in the Northeast:
·        New Hampshire 19
·        Vermont 21
·        Massachusetts 22
·        Maine  26
According to the Nashua Telegraph, the state has “aggressively tried to offer counseling to at-risk girls in the child health centers and for state services given to juveniles who have been criminally delinquent or truant.”  

New Hampshire Health and Human Services Deputy Commissioner Mary Ann Cooney believes that the state’s relatively high income and health of residents contribute to the low birth rates. The changing demographics is that the state is getting older and older and more and more women are entering the workforce at an early stage and not having as many childrenThe AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics didn’t think so in 2005. In recommendations, the Academy recommended birth control and access to emergency contraception in addition to abstinence only education.

“Even though there is great enthusiasm in some circles for abstinence-only interventions, the evidence does not support abstinence-only interventions as the best way to keep young people from unintended pregnancy,” said Dr. Jonathan Klein, chairman of the academy committee that wrote the new recommendations. MSNBC