Sexually transmitted diseases are not the only thing that’s on the rise in Minnesota.  For the first time in sixteen years the rate of teenage pregnancies in the state went up  –  by a whopping 6 percent — in 2006. Teenage births went up by 7 percent. That means that 38 out of every 1,000 teenagers in the state became pregnant. The most surprising aspect of the new report from the Minnesota Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Prevention and Parenting (MOAPPP) is that Minnesota’s increase was twice as big as the national average. The increases occurred across all races.  Brigid Riley, executive director of MOAPP, which uses state data to put out the report each year, said she thinks that state-wide cuts in sex education, and health care that were first implemented five years ago are now coming to fruition.  And she says there is no sign that rates are going to come down. “Can you imagine what it’s going to look like in two years,” she said.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 3:31 pm and is filed under sexual health, teenagers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.