Slide 1: Nine to Nineteen What Doctors Know About Your Child’s Sexual Health That You Don’t ... And Should
Slide 2: The PRCH Mission Physicians for Reproductive Choice and Health exists to ensure that all people have the knowledge, access to quality services, and freedom to make their own reproductive health decisions.
Slide 3: The PRCH Mission PRCH mobilizes pro-choice physicians to promote, educate, and advocate about the importance of comprehensive reproductive healthcare.
Slide 4: PRCH founding board member Dr. Richard Hausknecht marches in Washington.
Slide 5: What Teens Say "A lot of teens have unprotected sex due to the lack of education. We need to make public displays all over the media about how to prevent pregnancy, like they do for marijuana." —Rada, 17
Slide 6: What Teens Say "Teens think they will never get pregnant because they are young and nothing bad will ever happen to them. The [pregnancy] rate can be decreased if they are taught that this isn't true. Education is the only way to stop ignorance." —Sandy, 17
Slide 7: What Teens Say "Teens get pregnant because schools aren't teaching us everything we need to know about not getting pregnant. In some places, kids just learn that they shouldn't have sex, but don't get told what to do to be safe if they do have sex. Condoms should be made available for teens everywhere—at school, at home, and at the doctor's." —Serenity, 18
Slide 8: Dr. George Tiller prepares for work at his Kansas clinic. Before he puts on his lab coat and stethoscope, he dons a bulletproof vest. (From PRCH’s 2003 documentary film, Voices of Choice)
Slide 9: Teen Sexual Activity • By age 15, only 13% of teens have ever engaged in sexual intercourse. • By the time they reach 19, 70% of teens have had sex. • Nearly half (46%) of all 15- to 19-year-olds in the U.S. have had sex at least once.
Slide 10: Sexual Intercourse Rates by Age and Sex 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Males 15-17 Females 15-17 Males 18-19 Females 18-19
Slide 11: Sexual Intercourse Rates by Grade in High School 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 9th 10th 11th 12th
Slide 12: Sexual Intercourse Among High School Students After declining in the 1990s, rates leveled off. 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 High school females High school males High school students
Slide 13: Teen Sexuality A large study of 9th to 12th graders in Vermont found that – 1% of students described themselves as gay or lesbian. – 3% described themselves as bisexual. – 3% were not sure. – 2% reported having had same-sex intercourse.
Slide 14: Teen Sexuality 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Have Had Intercourse Currently Sexually Active Intercourse Before Age 13 4 or More Partners Have Been Forced to Have Sex
Slide 15: Teen Sexual Activity Among teenagers ages 15-19, about 12% of males and 10% of females had had heterosexual oral sex but not vaginal intercourse.
Slide 16: Sexual Activity, 15- to 19-Year-Olds 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Intercourse Oral Sex Male Female Anal Sex *With partner of the opposite sex
Slide 17: PRCH physician member Dr. Anne Davis and her husband march in Washington.
Slide 18: Teen Pregnancy • 82% of teen pregnancies are unplanned. • A sexually active teen who does not use contraceptives has a 90% chance of becoming pregnant within a year. • Each year, almost 750,000 women aged 15-19 become pregnant.
Slide 19: Teen Pregnancy U.S. teen pregnancy rates are the second highest among 46 developed countries and are • Twice as high as England and Wales combined and Canada • Eight times as high as the Netherlands and Japan
Slide 20: Teen Pregnancy Rates, Industrialized Nations Per 100,000 Population 200 150 100 50 0 14 15 16 17 18 19 U.S. Sweden France Britain Netherlands Canada Age
Slide 21: Teen birth rates rise for the first time since 1991. New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that teen births rose 3% in 2006, reversing a downward trend.
Slide 22: PRCH Physicians Meet with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
Slide 23: “Abstinence Only” Curricula Flawed A Congressional report found that 80% of federally-funded “abstinence only” programs contain false or misleading information, such as • “the popular claim that condoms prevent the spread of STDs is not supported by the data” • “[i]n heterosexual sex, condoms fail to prevent HIV approximately 31% of the time”
Slide 24: Virginity Pledgers • Delayed onset of intercourse for up to 18 months (but most did not wait until marriage) • Were 1/3 less likely than non-pledgers to use contraception when they did have intercourse • 88% had intercourse before marriage
Slide 25: Virginity Pledgers • Had same rates of sexually transmitted infection as non-pledgers • Were less aware of their STI status • Were less likely to use condoms during most recent intercourse • Were six times more likely to have oral/anal sex than virgins who did not pledge
Slide 26: PRCH Marches in Washington, DC
Slide 27: “Here in Texas, we need to wake up and recognize that teaching our children about contraception is the best way to prepare them to be healthy adults. It is no coincidence that our state denies teens information about birth control and has the highest teen birth rate in the nation.” —Dr. Herbert Brown
Slide 28: Access to Healthcare • 3.3 million (1 in 8) adolescents ages 12-17 lack health insurance. • 8 million (1 in 4) youths ages 18-24 are uninsured. • The chances of being uninsured double when a teen turns 19.
Slide 29: Access to Contraceptive Services • Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia explicitly allow all minors to consent to contraceptive services without a parent's involvement (as of April 2008). • Two states (Texas and Utah) require parental consent for contraceptive services in statefunded family planning programs.
Slide 30: Parental Consent for Contraception • Sixty percent of teens under 18 who use a clinic for sexual health services say their parents know they are there. • Among those whose parents do not know, 70% would not use the clinic for prescription contraception if the law required that their parents be notified.
Slide 31: Parental Consent for Contraception • Only 1% of adolescents who use sexual health services say they would stop having sex if there were a law requiring their parents' involvement for prescription contraception.
Slide 32: “As a physician who treats many adolescents, I encourage my patients to involve their parents in decisions regarding their healthcare. But that should not preclude schools from providing their students with the health resources they need, including medically accurate health education, and yes, if needed, reliable contraception." —Dr. Willie Parker
Slide 33: Sexually Transmitted Infection • 18.9 million new cases of STIs each year – Half occur in people ages 15-24 – Most are asymptomatic and remain undiagnosed • By age 25, at least half of sexually active people will have contracted an STI • Economic costs of treatment ~ $6.5 billion per year
Slide 34: Sexually Transmitted Infection • One in four (26 percent) young women ages 14-19 in the U.S. is infected with at least one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases. • Among African-American teenage girls, the rate is nearly 50%.
Slide 35: Gonorrhea by Age 70,000 60,000 Cases (per 100,000 Population) Men Women 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 -1 4 -2 4 -2 9 -1 9 20 10 15 25 30 -3 4
Slide 36: Chlamydia by Age 3,500 3,000 Rate (per 100,000 Population) 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 Men Women 10 -1 4 15 -1 9 20 -2 4 25 -2 9
Slide 37: HPV: The Facts • Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections account for about half of STIs among 15- to 24-year-olds each year. • HPV is extremely common, often asymptomatic, and generally harmless. However, certain types, if left undetected and untreated, can lead to cervical cancer, penile cancer, cancer of the anus, and other cancers.
Slide 38: PRCH Physicians Lobby on Capitol Hill
Slide 39: HPV: The Facts • In June 2006, the FDA approved the vaccine Gardasil as safe and effective for use among girls and women aged 9-26. The vaccine prevents infection with the types of HPV most likely to lead to cervical cancer. • Men can also be affected by HPV; Gardasil is being considered for boys as well as girls, primarily to prevent transmission.
Slide 40: “Physicians have an obligation to provide the best evidence-based care to our patients. As individuals, we may have differing opinions about the morality of sexual behavior, but those opinions should not play a role in how we practice medicine.” —Dr. Suzanne T. Poppema, PRCH board chair