Lawmakers are urging the General Assembly to act soon to help reduce teen pregnancy in Indiana, as the state’s teen birth rate is higher than the national average.
Teen birth rate is the number of live births per one thousand teens age 15 to 19. Indiana’s rate is about 33 per 1,000 teens, with the national rate at about 29. That’s compared to the teen pregnancy rate, which measures the number of pregnancies per one thousand teens, which includes births, abortions, still births and miscarriages.
State Health Department Adolescent Health Coordinator Leigh Kelner says Indiana’s teen pregnancy rate is about 37 per 1,000 young women.
“But it’s important to note that this number is very underrepresented because this is only reported teen pregnancies. The U.S. rate from 2010 – it’s important to note that’s two years prior to the Indiana rate listed – is 57, so we can assume that the Indiana rate is probably much closer to that, if not a little bit higher.”
Experts from Indiana University told lawmakers in a study committee this week that improving access to health services and particularly contraception are vital to helping reduce teen pregnancy rate.
Evansville Republican Senator Vaneta Becker says that’s an area Indiana is not doing well.
“There’s just a real thought that if we don’t talk about it, maybe it will go away, I think," Becker said, "unfortunately because that’s not the reality.”
House Public Policy Chairman Tom Dermody says he hopes the legislature can act on the issue, noting it ties into addressing the state’s infant mortality rate, which is one of the items on the House Republican agenda for next session.