States With The Highest Teen Pregnancy Rates Lack Adequate Sex Ed Requirements
Teen pregnancies have fallen to record lows. But according to a new report from Guttmacher Institute that breaks out data by each state, the decline is uneven across the country. New Mexico had the highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation in 2008 (the latest available data), followed by Mississippi, Texas, Nevada, Arkansas, and Arizona:
These states have something in common: They have poor sexual education in schools, and consequently tend to have lower rate of contraception use among teens.
New Mexico, the state that tops the list, has sex and HIV education in public schools. However, the sexual health information is not required to be medically accurate, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Wonkblog’s Sarah Kliff points out that contraceptive use is lower for New Mexico high school students too, at 60.5 percent compared to 75 percent nationally. Other states with higher teen pregnancy — Arizona, Texas, and Arkansas — do not require sex ed at all, and if it is taught, schools are required to stress abstinence:
The decline in teen pregnancy is “almost exclusively” a result of more contraceptive use, according to Guttmacher. Birth control use is up to 47 percent of sexually active teens, while teens’ use of both condoms and hormonal contraception rose from 16 percent to 23 percent in recent years.
But nationally, one in four teens have received abstinence-only education, with no instruction on birth control. Far more states still emphasize abstinence-only sex education over contraception, when they do teach teens about their own bodies at all. http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/03/01/1640851/states-teen-pregnancy-rates/
Former Sands exec again headed for sanctions hearing with ex-employer
By Tim O'Reiley LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL Posted: Feb. 28, 2013 | 6:16 p.m. Updated: Mar. 1, 2013 | 3:13 a.m.
For the second time in less than a year, former Sands China Ltd. CEO Steven Jacobs is heading into a sanctions hearing with his one-time employer and affiliate Las Vegas Sands Corp.
A hearing Thursday focused on whether Sands had turned over the evidence that Jacobs has requested to back his argument that his wrongful termination case should be heard in Clark County District Court rather than be transferred to Macau.
Through the tens of thousands of emails and other documents at stake, Jacobs hopes to prove that Las Vegas Sands had practical control over the Macau operations, clearing the hurdle for local jurisdiction.
After expressing concerns that Sands had not complied with previous orders to produce the documents, Clark County District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez set a hearing starting May 13 to decide whether to issue any punishment.
In September, she imposed a set of penalties, including a $25,000 fine, after company lawyers spent months telling her that Macau law precluded them from turning over electronically stored documents, only to find out that they also existed in Las Vegas.
Sands had turned over very little of what was requested and blacked out numerous sections of what it did, Jacobs' attorney James Pisanelli said, continuing a stalling tactic. He pressed for the declaration of a default judgment, which would give Jacobs a win without further litigation.
"What I think we need to do to cure the poison, to fix the corruption that has occurred in this case, is simply give (Sands) what they have so obviously been asking of you for going on two-plus years now, a default judgment," he said. "They would rather have that than the consequences of shining a light on their company."
But Sands attorney Randall Jones said the company had spent more than $4 million to come up with nearly 200,000 pages of material.
"It is a massive amount of information from my perspective," he said.
Jacobs' strategy, he added, was to try to win the case at a preliminary stage rather than go through a full trial.
Contact reporter Tim O'Reiley at toreiley@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290.
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