States where conservative religious beliefs dominate are strongly associated with high U.S. teen birth rates, according to findings from a study published in the journal, Reproductive Health.
One possible explanation for the relationship, the authors write, is that teens in more religious communities may be less likely to use contraception.
Controversy has surrounded the question of what to teach adolescents about sexuality and the prevention of teen pregnancy. Some sex ed progrms in the U.S. have mandated "abstinence-only" programs, which do not allow education on contraceptive options. To conduct the study, the researchers compared state level data on conservative religious beliefs and teen birth rate data from the CDC. To get at beliefs, the authors noted the percentage of respondents for each state who endorsed the most conservative religious answer to each of eight questions on the U.S. Religious Landscapes Survey published by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life in 2008. Some of the most conservative answers to selected questions follow:
- How often do you receive a definite answer to a specific prayer request? At least once a month.
- Scripture should be taken literally, word for word.
- There is only one way to interpret the teachings of my religion.
Comments
I think this is due to that less conservative states practice more abortion. So conservative people are more likely to keep the baby rather than kill it.
The researchers actually considered that very point you mention and adjusted their data to factor out the influence of abortion. When they did that, they found that those more conservative-leaning states still had higher teen birth rates.
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