Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
(Undated-AP) -- Utah has the 45th lowest teen pregnancy rate in the nation, according to a new study.
Fifty-three out of every one thousand teenage females in Utah became pregnant in 2000, according to the study from the Alan Guttmacher Institute in New York. The nonprofit organization focuses on sexual and reproductive health research.
Nevada was number one in the country for pregnancies among teens ages 15 to 19.
The national teen pregnancy rate has been dropping over the past decade, falling 28 percent from 1990 to 2000, according to the study.
The state's abortion rate among teens was the nation's lowest in 2000.
One health care worker from the Utah Women's Clinic attributed that number to the difficulty of getting an abortion in Utah when you're a teen. Under state law, a minor needs parental permission for an abortion and must undergo state-directed counseling before waiting 24 hours before an abortion is performed.
A spokesman for the Utah Department of Health, attributed the low rate to the prevalent cultural beliefs that encourage childbirth and adoptions.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
