[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 412 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 412

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 6, 2009

 Mr. Murphy of Connecticut (for himself, Mr. Castle, Ms. DeGette, Ms. 
 Slaughter, Mrs. Biggert, Ms. McCollum, Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida, 
Mr. McGovern, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Cohen, Mr. 
 Massa, Mrs. Maloney, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Ms. Baldwin, 
Mr. Kennedy, and Mr. Ryan of Ohio) 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 14 years of straight decline, the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention announced in March 2009 that the national teen birth rate 
        rose by 5 percent between 2005 and 2007;
Whereas the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unwanted Pregnancy estimates 
        that African-American and Hispanic/Latina teens are twice as likely as 
        White teens to become pregnant, as 53 percent of Latina teens and 51 
        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 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 Pregnancies, with 
        its partnering national organizations, recognizes May 6 as 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 175 national partners, 50 State and local 
        organizations, and more than 300,000 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 birth 
        rate after 14 years 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>