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July 22, 2009

Study: Teen Pregnancies, STDs Rose under Bush
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New figures show teen pregnancies and certain sexually transmitted
diseases saw a sharp rise during the administration of former President
George W. Bush. According to the Centers for Disease Control, teenage
pregnancies have risen in half the United States since 2005, reversing a
long trend of decline. The number of teenage girls with syphilis also
rose by nearly half. A two-decade decline in gonorrhea infections is now
on the reverse. And the number of teenage males contracting AIDS has
nearly doubled. The Bush administration pursued an evangelically driven
policy on sex education that shunned contraception and instead promoted
abstinence. Pregnancy and STDs were highest in Southern states, where
abstinence education has been most widespread.



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