美国国家公共电台 NPR In Texas, Abstinence-Only Programs May Contribute To Teen Pregnancies

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Today in Your Health, we're going to look at teen pregnancy¹ because nationwide the rates of teen pregnancy have been on the decline². Reporter Lauren Silverman from member station KERA in Dallas has been looking into this, and she joins me now. Hi, Lauren.

LAUREN SILVERMAN, BYLINE³: Hey, Rachel.

MARTIN: So this is good news, right?

SILVERMAN: Yeah. So across the country, the number of teenagers who are having babies has hit a record low. It's down to about 1 out of 45 young women, and that's everywhere. But recently, researchers have found there are still these pockets where the teen birth rate is much higher than the national average. And some of these hot spots are in Texas, and to understand why this is happening, I wanted to tell the story of Jessica Chester.

MARTIN: OK. Jessica's story. Let's listen.

SILVERMAN: When Jessica Chester was in high school in north Texas, she wanted to become a doctor.

JESSICA CHESTER: I was that student. I was top of the class - full tuition⁴ scholarship to UTD. I was not the stereotypical⁵ girl someone would look at and say, oh, she's going to get pregnant⁶ and drop out of school, you know, I just wasn't.

SILVERMAN: But right before her senior year, Chester missed her period. She bought a pregnancy test and told her mom to wait outside the bathroom door.

CHESTER: Both lines came up, and I didn't say a word. I just slid the test under the door. I had tears. And I remember just opening the door. She was standing⁷ there with her arms, out and she just wrapped me up and hugged me. And I just cried and, you know, she told me it's going to be OK.

SILVERMAN: Chester's mother had also been a teen mom and so had her grandmother. Every year in Texas about 35,000 young women have babies before their 20th birthdays. Teen birth rates are typically highest where education levels are low and poverty is high. But a new study co-authored by Dr. Julie Caesar shows there's more at play.

JULIE DECESARE: We removed poverty as a variable, and we did the same thing for education. And we found these 10 centers where their teen birth rates were much higher than would be predicted.

SILVERMAN: In the clusters⁸ that you found, a few were in Texas.

DECESARE: Lots of them were in Texas.

SILVERMAN: The Dallas and San Antonio areas, for example, had teen pregnancy rates 50 and 40 percent above the national average. Here's the thing - teens everywhere are having sex. Gwen Daverth CEO of Texas Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy says the high numbers in Texas reflect policy, not promiscuity⁹.

GWEN DAVERTH: What I mean by that is we're not connecting high-risk youth with contraception services. Our state is the most restrictive state when it comes to accessing health care.

SILVERMAN: For instance, if you're a 17-year-old mom and want prescription¹⁰ birth control, in most cases you need your parents' permission.

SKYLAR: Mommy, do you know the people that talk?

SILVERMAN: Twelve years ago after Skylar was born - that's him playing video games - Chester wasn't given contraception counseling¹¹ and still wasn't sure where to go for help. She continued dating Skylar's father and three months later was pregnant again. She and her boyfriend hadn't realized, she could get pregnant so soon after having a baby. She was a full-time¹² student at UT, Dallas double majoring in molecular¹³ biology and business administration. The education Chester never got, she says, was sex ed.

CHESTER: In hindsight it's like dude, like, what were you all thinking? I was an 18 year old. I came in 17 pregnant, had my baby at 18. Why weren't you all, you know, lining¹⁴ up the chart and showing me these are your options?

SILVERMAN: Chester's high school, like the majority of schools in Texas, teaches abstinence only or doesn't offer sexual¹⁵ education at all. Nicole Hudgens with the socially conservative¹⁶ Texas Values Public Policy Group supports abstinence-only education and says there are plenty of options for young moms who become pregnant.

NICOLE HUDGENS: There are so many places like crisis¹⁷ pregnancy centers that are able to help these girls that are in need.

SILVERMAN: That help generally does not include education about contraception. Most teen parents don't finish high school and just 2 percent go on to graduate from college. Jessica Chester falls into that 2 percent. She graduated and works in community outreach. She admits it's tough.

CHESTER: A lot of my sorority sisters, they've gone through medical school. They're doctors now, and I'm so happy for them. But I can't lie. Sometimes it's hard. You know, every graduation that comes around, I know that that's something I always wanted to do. And it's hard because sometimes I do feel like a failure like I gave up on my goals and dreams or I missed them up. But when I look at my children, I don't regret a thing.

SILVERMAN: Chester hears her boys laughing upstairs, wipes her tears and goes to cheer them on.

MARTIN: And we've got Lauren Silverman back to talk about this. She's a reporter from member station KERA who's been looking into teen pregnancy rates. So, Lauren, it's hard to imagine that in this day and age, teens have so much information online. But there is still such an information gap, it seems, in some communities when it comes to preventing pregnancy.

SILVERMAN: Yeah. And talking about sex can be uncomfortable and even with information, teens sometimes make rash¹⁸ decisions as I'm sure you remember.

MARTIN: Yeah.

SILVERMAN: But the information gap is real in Texas. Here nearly 85 percent of high schools teach abstinence only or don't have any sexual education at all. And there are some districts that seem to be adopting this sort of third-way approach called abstinence plus which still encourages abstinence, but it also includes information on pregnancy, prevention and STDs. But still in Texas, abstinence-only education is king.

MARTIN: What did you find out about school districts, states where things are working well?

SILVERMAN: So in addition to providing sexual education, a lot of these places are focusing on access, making access to contraception easier and literally¹⁹ meeting teen moms in hospitals or doctors offices. In South Carolina, for example, young women who have babies and are on Medicaid, which is health insurance for lower income people, they're offered the opportunity to get a long-acting form of birth control right after they give birth. Colorado also is subsidizing the cost of long-acting birth control. They're both abortions²⁰ and teen birth rates are dropping faster than the national average.

MARTIN: Finally, Lauren, do we know anything more about Jessica's future plans? She said she wanted to go to med school. Is that still in the cards for her?

SILVERMAN: She is still thinking about it. Right now she's actually working doing some family planning counseling as well, and she's still thinking about medical school.

MARTIN: Lauren Silverman from member station KERA. Her story was part of our reporting partnership²¹ with Kaiser Health News. Lauren, thanks so much.

SILVERMAN: Thanks, Rachel.

1 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

2 decline   

n.衰微，跌落，下降；vt.使降低，婉谢；vi.下降，衰落，偏斜

参考例句：

• I must decline to show favour to any of the candidates.我必须拒绝偏袒任何一位候选人。
• The birthrate is on the decline.出生率在下降。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 tuition   

n.（某一学科的）教学，讲授，指导，学费

参考例句：

• Students can apply for individual tuition.学生可以申请个别指导。
• Is this money enough for the tuition fee?这些钱交学费够吗？

5 stereotypical   

n.常规

参考例句：

• Personas should be typical and believable, but not stereotypical. 人物角色应该是典型和可信赖的，但不是一成不变的。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Anything could be stereotypical, so I guess it could be criticism. 任何东西都可以变的老套，所以我猜那就是一种批评。 来自互联网

6 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 clusters   

n.（果实、花等的）串( cluster的名词复数 )；簇；（人、物等的）群；组v.（使）集中( cluster的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• These small particles agglomerate together to form larger clusters. 这些颗粒聚结形成较大的团。
• Sometimes several clusters of white clouds drift across the blue sky. 蔚蓝色的天空中，时而飘过几朵白云。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 promiscuity   

n.混杂，混乱；（男女的）乱交

参考例句：

• Promiscuity went unpunished, divorce was permitted. 乱交挨不着惩罚，离婚办得成手续。 来自英汉文学
• There is also no doubt that she falls into promiscuity at last. 同时无疑她最后也堕入性乱。 来自互联网

10 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

11 counseling   

n.咨询服务

参考例句：

• A multimillionaire media magnate has shocked his employees with his candor by telling them all that he's putting his business affairs on hold to enter an alcoholism-counseling program. 一位身份数百万的媒体大亨，坦诚地告诉他全体员工他将暂时搁置他的事业以便参加戒酒班，令员工大为惊愕。
• She will need medical help and counseling to overcome the tragedy. 她将需要医疗帮助和心理咨询来平复这场悲剧。

12 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

13 molecular   

adj.分子的；克分子的

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
• For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时，分子的碰撞就停止了。

14 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

15 sexual   

adj.性的，两性的，性别的

参考例句：

• He was a person of gross sexual appetites.他是个性欲旺盛的人。
• It is socially irresponsible to refuse young people advice on sexual matters.拒绝向年轻人提供性方面的建议是对社会不负责任。

16 conservative   

adj.保守的，守旧的；n.保守的人，保守派

参考例句：

• He is a conservative member of the church.他是一个守旧教会教友。
• The young man is very conservative.这个年轻人很守旧。

17 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

18 rash   

adj.轻率的；n.（皮）疹，爆发的一连串

参考例句：

• My skin has broken out in an itchy rash.我的皮肤上突然长出一片让人发痒的皮疹。
• Don't be rash in making your decision.别轻率做出决定。

19 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

20 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

21 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。