IV 

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; 


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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; 


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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 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) supports the goals and ideals of the Na3 tional Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy to raise 

4 awareness about the importance of this critical issue, 

5 promote parent-child communication, and invest in 

6 programs that have been proven to reduce teen preg7 nancy; 

8 (2) encourages the people of the United States 

9 to join with more than 200 national partners, 30 

10 State and local organizations, and more than 

11 400,000 individuals who will take this year’s Na12 tional Day Quiz to observe the National Day to Pre13 vent Teen Pregnancy and to participate in activities 

14 that will help teens think carefully about sex and 


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1 contraception, the possibility of pregnancy, and the 

2 lifelong challenges of being a parent; and 

3 (3) supports a renewed focus on preventing teen 

4 pregnancy, especially given the recent rise in the na5 tional teen pregnancy rate after more than a decade 

6 of steady decline, that will allow us to address the 

7 Nation’s high rates of teen pregnancies and births 

8 and continue the impressive progress made on this 

9 issue since the early 1990s. 

Æ 


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