Teen Pregnancy Persuasive Letter

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Dear Congressman, Indiana is in need of some help at the government level to assist in the issue of teen pregnancy. According to the United Nations and United Nations Population Fund, teen pregnancy is a global health issue. In the world, it is estimated that 1.8 billion young people live off $2.00 with sixteen million adolescent girls become mothers every year. In the United States there is three in 10 teens pregnant by the age of 20 and in 2009, there were 409,840 infants born to 15 to 19-year-olds, for a live birth rate of 39.1 per 1,000 women in this age group (CDC, 2011). Although in Indiana the birth rate for teens decreased from 49.1 in 2000 to 43.2 in 2005, the rates are again on the rise at 45.2, close to the same rates from the 2001 levels (Pregnant and Parenting Adolescents Support Services (PPASS) Program Needs Assessment, 2011). Teen pregnancy must be addressed because of the increased risk of health, and social and emotional problems these pregnancies have on the partner, and families involved. According to the March of Dimes, a baby born to a teenage Mother has a higher risk for premature birth along with low birth weight. In 2006, teens between the age of 15 and 19 had 10% low-birth weight to their infants compared to all women of 8.3 % (March of Dimes, 2009). A teenager mother is also at risk for anemia and high blood pressure and the risks are even higher for teens under 15. Teenagers also are at risk for sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia, syphilis, and gonorrhea. 19 million new cases are documented each year on sexually transmitted diseases. Of these cases, nine million affect young people between 15 and 24 (March of Dimes, 2009). Sexually transmitted diseases cause harm to the individuals and newborns involved. For example, chlamydia is a sexually transmitted disease that is a bacterial infection of the
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