Yesterday the Guttmacher Institute released national teen pregnancy data through 2006, and state specific teen pregnancy data for 2005. Overall, the teen pregnancy rate for girls age 15-19 decreased 37 percent between 1988 and 2005. After reaching 117 pregnancies per 1,000 girls age 15-19 in 1990, the pregnancy rate decreased to approximately 70 pregnancies per 1,000 girls age 15-19 in 2005. However, the teen pregnancy rate between 2005 and 2006 increased 3 percent (as was predicted by the increase in the teen birth rate during the same time period). The key question is, of course, what is causing this recent increase?

Our fact sheet Teen Pregnancy Rates: Trends reflects teen pregnancy rates (per 1,000 girls age 15-19) in the United States from 1988 to the most recent year available, both as reported by NCHS and by the Guttmacher Institute. There is a slight difference in the reported rates between the two sources of data due to differences in the methods used to estimate the number of fetal losses.

If you are interested in how your state compares to others, Teen Pregnancy Rates in the U.S.: State Rankings and the 50-State and National Comparisons are your guide. In general, New Mexico had the highest teen pregnancy rate (93 per 1,000 girls age 15-19) and New Hampshire had the lowest (33 per 1,000 girls age 15-19). Also, these links provide other data, such as the number of teen pregnancies and the change in teen pregnancy rates by state.

See what The National Campaign has to say about the increase here. And don't forget to check out the full Guttmacher report.

Several articles in the past few days have discussed a new military policy that is causing quite a stir--the inclusion of pregnancy on the list of prohibitions for personnel. This essentially means that if a member of the military becomes pregnant or impregnates a woman, he or she is subject to punishment, including a court-martial and jail time. Although Major General Anthony Cucolo indicated that this was a very unlikely scenario (in fact, he said that he has never considered court-martialing or jailing someone related to pregnancy), pregnancy was added to the list of prohibitions to "underline the seriousness of the issue."

Although the army might have many different reasons for considering pregnancy to be serious, not the least of which is the reduction in deployed staff, the Major General's actions nevertheless underscore the notion that a pregnancy is a serious and important event. While the Major General does emphasize the importance of pregnancy planning, it it essential that the military also provide education and services to help military personnel avoid unplanned pregnancies.

In a bracing piece in The Nation, Sharon Lerner explores, with her usual clarity, why it is that primary prevention--simple birth control--now seems so devalued. Read, scratch your head, and be concerned. Sigh.

It's not every day that you come across something online that you think is truly different, useful and, even fun. The other day I came across a website, "Maria Talks," that I think meets this criteria. The site was created through funding from the Massachusetts government, and it operates in conjunction with the Massachusetts Sexual Health Hotline. As someone who has spent plenty of time searching the web for resources on sexual health and birth control, I think that this site stands out.

At The National Campaign, we often send the message that safe sexual practices among teens are best achieved through ongoing conversation and communication. First and foremost, teens themselves have told us their parents most influence their decisions about sex, and we have long asked parents to take the lead and start that open and ongoing conversation with their children.

This blog doesn't need to be all Kardashian all the time, but it's worth noting in this space that not only is Kourtney Kardashian talking about her unplanned pregnancy, she is also talking about ambivalence and abortion - both incredibly common in these situations but both incredibly absent from most Hollywood baby bump coverage.

I don't know a whole lot about Kourtney - I don't watch her show and I'm not sure what sort of extraordinary things she's done to deserve a show - but what she told People magazine makes her sound like a normal person and not a creation of publicists:

"I definitely thought about it long and hard, about if I wanted to keep the baby or not, and I wasn't thinking about adoption."

"For me, all the reasons why I wouldn't keep the baby were so selfish: It wasn't like I was raped, it's not like I'm 16. I'm 30 years old, I make my own money, I support myself, I can afford to have a baby. And I am with someone who I love, and have been with for a long time."

That a "celebrity" would give voice to those feelings and ideas is refreshing because that's what we hear so often from regular people who live far outside the spotlight.

Less refreshing is what her doctor told her when she sought medical counsel about what to do: "My doctor told me there is nothing you will ever regret about having the baby, but he was like, 'You may regret not having the baby.' And I was like: That is so true."

One would hope that a physician would have a more balanced opinion about terminating an unplanned (and perhaps unwanted) pregnancy, but let's hope for the baby's sake the doctor was right this time.