Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Effect Of Conservative Politics On Sex Education And Teen Birth: A State-By-State Analysis Of Abstinence And Contraception-Focused Approaches, Isabelle Alley

Sociology Senior Seminar Papers

Researchers and policy makers have looked at many factors that result in high teen birth rates, most notably sex education in public schools. Most often sex education policies fall to the state government, resulting in vast differences in policy across the US. In this study I look at two different approaches to sex education: programs in which abstinence is stressed and programs that include information on contraception. Using the Guttmacher Institute’s evaluation of state sex education laws (2015) and The National Campaign to End Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy’s teen birthrates (2015), I have compiled a data set that allows a …