Available Contraception Lowers Teen BirthratesSource: Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 10, No. 3 (May - Jun., 1978), pp. 160-161Published by: Guttmacher InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2134303 .

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Mother's Life Is Paramount The circumstances surrounding the pregnancy and the length of gestation are deciding factors in most people's feelings about abortion, the 1977 poll shows. Of those who believe abortion should be legal, 77 percent said that abortion should be permitted in the first trimester when the woman's life is en- dangered by the pregnancy; 64 percent said this should hold true for the second trimester, and 60 percent felt that even in the third trimester, abortion should be permitted in such cases. Sixty-five per- cent of those who favor legal abortion said that rape or incest should be grounds for abortion in the first trimes- ter; but only 38 percent and 24 percent, respectively, believe these grounds suffi- cient for abortions performed in the sec- ond and third trimesters. Abortion in the first trimester was approved by 54 per- cent (of those who believed abortion should be legal) if the woman might suffer severe physical health damage; 45 percent when there was a chance that the baby would be deformed; 42 percent if the woman's mental health were endan- gered; and 16 percent if the family could not afford to have the child. For each of these circumstances, approval declined with advancing gestation.

Personal Decision It appears that a much greater proportion of both Catholics and Protestants would have an abortion themselves (or advise their wives to have one) than advocate legal abortion on principle. A recent sur- vey conducted by the National Opinion Research Center found that 76 percent of Catholics would resort to abortion if the woman's health was endangered by the pregnancy; among Protestants, the pro- portion was even higher-84 percent. If there was a strong possibility that the fe- tus was defective, 66 percent of Catho- lics and 76 percent of Protestants would have an abortion. In the event that they could not afford another child, 22 per- cent of Catholics and 28 percent of Prot- estants would abort a pregnancy. In each circumstance, the proportion of people who said they themselves would have an abortion is higher than the proportion who said (in the Gallup poll) that abor-

tion should be legal for the same indica- tion-7-25 percentage points higher for Catholics and 13-33 percentage points higher for Protestants.

More insight into the views of Catho- lics is presented in a report to the Catho- lic Press Association (CPA), which com- missioned the Gallup Organization to conduct surveys aimed at informing Catholic editors of attitudes of com- municants on a variety of key issues, in- cluding abortion and contraception. The survey data show that "few issues are so focal or important in the thinking of Catholics as abortion." Almost half do not agree with the Church's position on this subject. An even larger proportion of Catholics, 73 percent, said that the Church should change its policy on birth control and allow its members to use artificial means of contraception.

The surveys for the CPA show that "one of the major reasons for the grow- ing concern [over abortion] is, undoubt- edly, the tremendous growth in teenage pregnancies." Some 44 percent of Catho- lics interviewed said that the Church should "relax its standards forbidding all abortions under any circumstance;" 47 percent hold the opposite view. The report notes a "consistency of opinion" among all Catholics, whatever their edu- cation or sex.

Contraception, Sex Ed for Teens Another Gallup poll finding is that most Americans support contraceptive ser- vices for teenagers as well as sex educa- tion and birth control instruction in the schools. Fifty-six percent of those inter- viewed in 1977 favored making "birth control devices available to teenage boys and girls." An even larger proportion, 77 percent, said that sex education should be taught in the schools (compared to 65 percent in 1970). Discussion of con- traceptives in sex education courses was supported by 69 percent of the popula- tion-up from only 36 percent in 1970. "Although the Roman Catholic Church officially opposes the use of artificial means of birth control, Catholics are just as likely as Protestants to approve of sex education classes in the schools, approve of having these classes discuss birth con- trol, and favor making birth control de- vices available to teenagers," the report points out.

The 1977 Gallup poll of the general population consisted of personal inter- views during December 1977 with 1,518 people over the age of 17, in 300 loca-

tions selected to represent the country as a whole. The polls conducted for the CPA included interviews with 1,405 Catholics over 17 years of age during August and September 1977. The NBC poll was made up of telephone inter- views with 1,604 adults in 400 selected localities.

References 1. G. Gallup, "Seventy-Five Percent Back Abortions But Most Say Only in Certain Circumstances," The Gallup Poll, news release, Princeton, N.J., Jan. 22, 1978.

2. A. M. Greeley, "Findings on Catholic Abortion Views Shattering," The Anchor, Jan. 26, 1978, p. 6.

3. The Gallup Organization, U.S. Catholics and the Catholic Press: Summary and Analysis, Princeton, N.J., Jan. 1978.

4. G. Gallup, "Reflects Epidemic of Teenage Preg- nancies: Growing Number of Americans Favor Dis- cussion of Sex in Classroom," The Gallup Poll, news release, Princeton, N.J., Jan. 23, 1978.

5. NBC News, Poll No. 91, Dec. 7, 1977.

Available Contraception Lowers Teen Birthrates Increased access of teenagers to con- traception and abortion services has made a major dent in the high rates of adolescent fertility and illegitimacy. Fi- nal natality statistics for 1976 show teen- age birthrates, which had been falling at slower rates than those of women in their 20s, turning sharply downward in that year, with the decline much steeper than for any other age group under 40.1 Younger adolescents, whose fertility had been virtually unchanged over the last decade, shared in the decrease with their older sisters.

The new report, by DHEW's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), show rates of out-of-wedlock childbear- ing among teenagers fell for the first time since 1962. The decrease was entirely due to a sharp decline among black teen- agers; the illegitimacy rate among white adolescents increased slightly. Again, out-of-wedlock childbearing dipped among younger as well as older teenag- ers.

The U.S. fertility rate in 1976 reached a record low of 65.8 live births per 1,000 women aged 15-44, down from 66.7 in 1975. Birthrates declined for all age groups except for women in their early 30s. Birthrates increased for all women in their 30s having first, second and third births, and for women in their late 20s, having first births. These increases, ac-

160 Family Planning Perspectives

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cording to the NCHS, appear to be ac- counted for by previously postponed births rather than by any tendency to have larger families. Preliminary data for 1977 show a slight increase in the fer- tility rate (two percent),2 but until the final statistics are released (and broken down by age and parity), it is not possi- ble to say if this increase also is account- ed for by women who are now making up for births they had delayed. At that rate, the total fertility rate* in 1977 was still only 1.8 children per woman, below the number needed for population re- placement.3

Teenage Fertility During 1976, there were 53.5 live births per 1,000 women aged 15-19 in the Unit- ed States, a decrease of five percent from the previous year (about the same as among 15-17-year-olds and 18-19-year- olds). Among women in their prime childbearing years, the birthrate fell by 1-2 percent for women aged 20-30 and 35-39, and rose about three percent for women aged 30-34.

There were an estimated 235,300 out- of-wedlock births to teenagers and pre- teens in 1976, up 1,800 births from 1975; these births represent 51 percent of the 463,100 out-of-wedlock births. (Because nonmarital childbearing rose among old- er women, the proportion accounted for by teenagers declined slightly.)

Since the number of unwed teenagers increased, their rate of out-of-wedlock childbearing declined, from 24.2 births per 1,000 unmarried teenagers in 1975 to 24.0 in 1976. This decrease is accounted for entirely by a four percent reduction in the illegitimacy rate among nonwhite teenagers in that year. The rate among white teenagers actually increased by two percent over the 1975 rate. Although the gap is closing, black teenagers still have almost eight times more out-of- wedlock births than white teenagers (92 births per 1,000 unmarried black adoles- cents compared to 12 per 1,000 whites).

The report notes that as in previous years, teenagers-especially younger teenagers, who are at unusually high risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes-were less likely than other women to obtain early, or any, prenatal care. Only 14 per- cent of mothers under age 15, 22 percent of those 15-17 and 31 percent of those

*The total fertility rate is the number of children a woman will have in her lifetime if she has children at the age-specific rates of all women at the time of survey.

18-19 received prenatal care in the first or second month of pregnancy, com- pared to 50 percent of mothers in their 20s. On the other hand, six percent of mothers under 15, three percent of those 15-17 and two percent of mothers 18-19 received no prenatal care at all, com- pared to just one percent of mothers in their 20s. Among both teenagers and women in their 20s, however, the pro- portion who received no prenatal care increased and the percentage who got early care decreased during 1976.

Overall, blacks were 2.5 times more likely than whites to have no prenatal care and were one-third percent less like- ly to get care in the first two months of pregnancy.

Making Up for Postponed Births The birthrate among 30-34-year-olds rose by three percent in 1976, to 54.5 live births per 1,000 women. First births in- creased by 10 percent, second births by seven percent and third births by four percent over 1975 rates. This was the only age group in which fertility in- creased as a result of "previously post- poned births rather than . . . larger families among older women . . . ," the report points out. There was a decrease in the rate of higher order births.

First-order births also increased (by one percent) among women in their late

20s; first- to third-order births among women 35-39 increased by six percent, seven percent and three percent, respec- tively. While these increases were not sufficiently large to raise the birthrate for the whole age group, they also point to a desire on the part of older women to make up for postponed births in earlier years.

Not only did fertility decline during 1976, but couples were spacing their births further apart. The mean number of months since the last live birth in- creased from 44.6 to 45.1; the increase was similar for blacks and whites.

The gap in fertility between blacks and whites continued to narrow, as it has in- almost every year since 1965. In 1976, the fertility rate for white women was 62.2, while for black women it was 87.2, 25 points higher. In 1970, the black rate was 31 points higher.

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Rnwcr 1. National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), DHEW, "Advance Report: Final Natality Statistics, 1976," Monthly Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 26, No. 12, Supplement, 1978; and "Advance Report: Final Natality Statistics, 1975," Monthly Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 25, No. 10, Supplement, 1976.

2. NCHS, "Births, Marriages, Divorces, and Deaths for 1977," Monthly Vital Statistics Report: Provi- sional Statistics, Vol. 26, No. 12, 1978.

3. NCHS, "Note to Editors," Apr. 4, 1978.

VolutmelO, Number 3, May/June 1978 161

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