Doh: Colorado teen pregnancies plummet thanks to contraceptives

http://prorevnews.blogspot.com/2014/07/colorado-teen-pregnancies-plummet.html

Colorado teen pregnancies plummet thanks to contraceptives

Daily Kos - Colorado's teen birth rate dropped 40 percent in five years—years during which a donor-funded initiative provided 30,000 free or low-cost contraceptive devices to low-income women:

The decline in births among girls 15 to 19 years old served by the program accounted for three-quarters of the overall decline in the Colorado teen birth rate, the state said in a news release.

That rate has fallen from 37 births per 1,000 girls in 2009 to 22 in 2013, officials said.

The teen abortion rate dropped 35 percent from 2009 to 2012 in those counties where the initiative is in place, Hickenlooper said.

Colorado is saving money thanks to the drop in teen pregnancy: Medicaid costs are lowered by $5.68 for every dollar spent on the contraception program. Because pregnancy, childbirth, and pediatric care are more expensive than IUDs.