Study: teen sex down, pregnancy a problem

A look at U.S. data shows one in three sexually active teenage girls gets pregnant although teen sexual activity is dropping.

The Washington, D.C.-based National Campaign to Prevent Pregnancy looked at 2002 numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and found 46.7 percent of high schoolers said they had sex, compared to 53 percent in 1993.

The CDC shows 57 percent of pregnant teens have the baby, 29 percent have an abortion and 14 percent miscarry.

Bill Albert, spokesman for the National Campaign, said the group is trying to get the message out about the importance of abstinence and if teens are going to have sex, they need to use contraception.

Fifteen-year-old Vanessa Garcia said she's now five months pregnant because she and her boyfriend didn't use condoms regularly, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

The Chicago ninth-grader said teenagers don't get enough information about or access to contraception, especially the pill.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International