British pregnancy rates fell when access to family planning was temporarily restricted.

 

 

Sex education aimed at encouraging contraceptive use has had no impact on teenage pregnancy or abortion rates, and may even increase activity, a British study released on Monday said. 

 

David Paton of Nottingham University said under – 16’s who used family planning services were more likely to be sexually active than other teenagers. His 14-year study found that while family planning clinics cut pregnancy risks for some young people, it also raised the likelihood of sexual behavior in others. “You end up with more people having sex, and the same number of pregnancies,” he told Reuters. Paton’s finding challenged the British government’s stated aim to halve teenage pregnancies rates by 2010 through sex education and improved access to contraception.

 

Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Western Europe, double that of Germany an six times higher than in the Netherlands. Last year a government advisory group on teenage pregnancies recommended that children wanting to have sex before the legal age of 16 should be able to get birth control at school. His study, published in the Journal of Health Economics, found that pregnancy rates fell when access to family planning was temporarily restricted under the 1984 Gillick Ruling. “If the policy aim is to help encourage young people to wait before having sex, we may need to go back to that rule,” he said. “A lot of people won’t like it. I’m aware of that. But it’s important to take account of the facts before making policies in this area.” 

 

03-04-03