[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1290 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1290

   Supporting the goals and ideals of a National Day to Prevent Teen 
                               Pregnancy.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 22, 2010

Mr. Murphy of Connecticut (for himself, Mr. Castle, Ms. Slaughter, Mrs. 
     Biggert, Ms. DeGette, and Mr. Waxman) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Supporting the goals and ideals of a National Day to Prevent Teen 
                               Pregnancy.

Whereas according to the National Center for Health Statistics, more than 
        700,000 teenagers become pregnant each year;
Whereas despite progress over the last decade, 3 in 10 teenagers in the United 
        States become pregnant, which the United Nations Health Statistics 
        Division ranks as the highest teen pregnancy rate among comparable 
        countries;
Whereas after more than a decade of progress, the Guttmacher Institute reported 
        in January 2010 that the national teen pregnancy rate rose by 3 percent 
        between 2007 and 2008;
Whereas the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy estimates 
        that African-American and Hispanic/Latina teens are twice as likely as 
        White teens to become pregnant, as 52 percent of Latina teens and 50 
        percent of African-American teens, as compared to 19 percent of White 
        teens, will become pregnant by age 20;
Whereas teen pregnancy is closely linked to a number of critical social issues 
        such as poverty, educational attainment, involvement in the criminal 
        justice, child welfare systems, and more;
Whereas according to an analysis by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and 
        Unplanned Pregnancy, teen childbearing costs United States taxpayers 
        billions of dollars each year as a result of the negative social and 
        health outcomes for the children of teen parents, such as an increased 
        use of the child welfare, foster care, and public health care systems;
Whereas research on child poverty rates shows that a child is 9 times more 
        likely to grow up in poverty if he or she is born to unmarried teen 
        parents who have not yet completed high school;
Whereas less than half of mothers who have a child before they turn 18 ever 
        graduate from high school, and less than 2 percent of mothers who have 
        children before 18 have a college degree by age 30;
Whereas according to the National Center of Education Statistics, 30 percent of 
        teen girls cited pregnancy or parenthood as a reason for dropping out of 
        high school;
Whereas children of teen mothers are more likely to be born prematurely and at 
        low birth weight;
Whereas children of teen parents are 2 times more likely to suffer abuse and 
        neglect than would occur if their mothers had delayed childbearing;
Whereas according to several leading public health and maternal and child health 
        experts, planned pregnancy results in better outcomes due to necessary 
        resources and support systems are more likely to be in place than for 
        unplanned pregnancy; and
Whereas the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, with its 
        partnering national organizations, recognizes the first Wednesday in May 
        as the National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) supports the goals and ideals of the National Day to 
        Prevent Teen Pregnancy to raise awareness about the importance 
        of this critical issue, promote parent-child communication, and 
        invest in programs that have been proven to reduce teen 
        pregnancy;
            (2) encourages the people of the United States to join with 
        more than 200 national partners, 30 State and local 
        organizations, and more than 400,000 individuals who will take 
        this year's National Day Quiz to observe the National Day to 
        Prevent Teen Pregnancy and to participate in activities that 
        will help teens think carefully about sex and contraception, 
        the possibility of pregnancy, and the lifelong challenges of 
        being a parent; and
            (3) supports a renewed focus on preventing teen pregnancy, 
        especially given the recent rise in the national teen pregnancy 
        rate after more than a decade of steady decline, that will 
        allow us to address the Nation's high rates of teen pregnancies 
        and births and continue the impressive progress made on this 
        issue since the early 1990s.
                                 <all>