[Vision2020] In *this* universe, we have facts about that. . .

[Melynda Huskey]

Donovan Arnold writes:

“The reality is the a huge percentage of underage teenage pregnancies occur 
with the male being three or more years older then the female.”

Another reality can be found in Jacqueline E. Darroch, David J. Landry and 
Selene Oslak’s “Age Differences Between Sexual Partners In the United 
States,” *Family Planning Perspectives* Volume 31, Number 4, July/August 
1999.

According to these researchers, “64% of sexually active women aged 15-17 had 
a partner within two years of their age, 29% a partner who was 3-5 years 
older, and 7% a partner who was six or more years older. . . . Among women 
younger than 18 who became pregnant, those with a partner who was six or 
more years older were less likely to have an unintended pregnancy (70%) or 
to terminate an unintended pregnancy (21%) than were those whose partner was 
no more than two years older (82% and 49%, respectively).”

While it is true that among the 7% of sexually active adolescent women who 
have much older partners there is a significant increase in rate of 
pregnancy, that doesn’t translate to “the a [sic] huge percentage of under 
age teen age pregnancies” that Donovan describes.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Idaho has 143 
secondary schools with at least a four-year configuration, and only 18 with 
a 3 year span (the total excludes detention centers and state hospital 
locations.)  Nevertheless, adolescent pregnancy in the state has declined 
21% over the last ten years, according to the Allan Gutmacher Institute.  
Moreover, 35% of teen pregnancies in Idaho take place within wedlock.  Our 
rate of pregnancy for women under fifteen is .04 in 1000—among the very 
lowest in the nation.  For women ages 15-19, Idaho's birth rate was 39 per 
1,000--compared to a teen birth rate of 43 per 1,000 nationwide.  We even 
have a lower rate of reported sexual activity for teen agers:  36% of female 
high school students and 37% of male high school students in Idaho reported 
ever having had sexual intercourse compared to 45% of female high school 
students and 48% of male high school students nationwide.

I'd love to see the design for a reliable study which compared differential 
rates of unintended pregnancy between three- and four-year high schools . . 
.  but in its absence, I think we are safe in assuming that school 
configuration is probably not a driving force in age of sexual debut, age 
difference in sexual partners, or teen-age pregnancy.

I wonder if Donovan’s “information” on the levy is as reliable as his 
information on this subject.

Melynda Huskey