IV 

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 


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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; 


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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 Pregnancies, with its partnering national organizations, recognizes May 6 as 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 175 national partners, 50 

10 State and local organizations, and more than 

11 300,000 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 

15 contraception, the possibility of pregnancy, and the 

16 lifelong challenges of being a parent; and 


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•HRES 412 IH 

1 (3) supports a renewed focus on preventing teen 

2 pregnancy, especially given the recent rise in the na3 tional teen birth rate after 14 years of steady de4 cline, that will allow us to address the Nation’s high 

5 rates of teen pregnancies and births and continue 

6 the impressive progress made on this issue since the 

7 early 1990s. 

Æ 


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