STATEMENT BY TOMMY G. THOMPSON

SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Regarding CDC's Trends in Pregnancy Rates Report

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's report is greatly encouraging, with news that teen pregnancy rates reached record-low levels in 1997, decreasing for all racial and ethnic groups. The fact that fewer teenagers are becoming pregnant benefits not only the young people who are emotionally and financially unprepared for the challenges of parenthood, but also society as a whole.

We must continue to build on this success, for there is more we can do to further reduce the rate of teenage pregnancies."

The administration is dedicated to doing its part to further reduce teenage pregnancies as well as to strengthen America's families. President Bush is committed to creating parity between funding for abstinence education and programs that teach about contraception use. In addition, we are providing support for young parents to break the cycle of teen parenthood and strengthen families, including $64 million to strengthen the role of fathers in the lives of families and $33 million for teen maternity group homes.

We encourage parents to talk to their teenagers about issues surrounding adolescent pregnancy prevention, as they can have the greatest influence on their children. Working together, we are succeeding in preventing teens from becoming parents and strengthening our society as a whole.

CDC's report, "Trends in Pregnancy Rates for the United States, 1976-97: An Update," is available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/releases/01news/trendpreg.htm.

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Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.