The diagram, with the notable exceptions of Mississippi and Delware, correlates fairly well to the population distribution of Hispanics in the US: <a class="user" href="http://www.censusscope.org/us/map_hispanicpop.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.censusscope.org/us/map_hispanicpop.html</a>Not that it is proof of causation, but it indicates that it might be a factor. No other census factor (as shown by the same cite as the link) seems to have the same high correlation value that %Hispanic does.
Not to crap on the whole "the south, family values GOP states are hypocritical" thread we have going, but the states in Red and Orange tend to have a high percentage of blacks and hispanics, who have abortions far more often than whites. This also might explain why the "more white" the state, the less abortions tend to occur -- also, these states tend to be poorer, and lack proper sex education, (now you could raise the argument that the GOP's values are detrimental), but we should not that demographics play a significant role in this data, not just partisanship. In 2000:14.8 abortions per 1,000 white adolescent females ages 15-1957.4 per 1,000 among black adolescent females ages 15-1930.3 per 1,000 among Hispanic adolescent females ages 15-19...and that was in 2000. It has likely increased in the last decade. <a class="user" href="http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/indicators/27TeenAbortions.cfm" rel="nofollow">http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/indicators/27Te ...</a>This isn't a geographical or partisan problem. We need to make sure young women have access to birth control and proper, factual sex education -- hopefully this would cut down on the number of abortions that young women are having.
It's not a southern thing. If you look at the states with the highest rates, most have two things in common. Population density and large Hispanic populations (no, that's not a racist observation). Hispanics tend to lead the pack in teen pregnancies.This chart would mean a LOT more if they broke it down into demographics.
Population density means nothing here. Across the board, there isn't even a correlation between density and underage pregnancies. If there was, the entire northeastern metropolis area would be red.
It's called basic numbers. If you pack 500 teenagers in a room, they're far more likely to find someone to have sex with than if you pack 50 teenagers in that same room.
yugosakimiAug 27, 2009
I guess in the southwest there's not much else to do..
haptickAug 27, 2009
The diagram, with the notable exceptions of Mississippi and Delware, correlates fairly well to the population distribution of Hispanics in the US: <a class="user" href="http://www.censusscope.org/us/map_hispanicpop.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.censusscope.org/us/map_hispanicpop.html</a>Not that it is proof of causation, but it indicates that it might be a factor. No other census factor (as shown by the same cite as the link) seems to have the same high correlation value that %Hispanic does.
mikeontvAug 27, 2009
The should just wrap all of Texas in latex
Closed AccountAug 28, 2009
Not to crap on the whole "the south, family values GOP states are hypocritical" thread we have going, but the states in Red and Orange tend to have a high percentage of blacks and hispanics, who have abortions far more often than whites. This also might explain why the "more white" the state, the less abortions tend to occur -- also, these states tend to be poorer, and lack proper sex education, (now you could raise the argument that the GOP's values are detrimental), but we should not that demographics play a significant role in this data, not just partisanship. In 2000:14.8 abortions per 1,000 white adolescent females ages 15-1957.4 per 1,000 among black adolescent females ages 15-1930.3 per 1,000 among Hispanic adolescent females ages 15-19...and that was in 2000. It has likely increased in the last decade. <a class="user" href="http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/indicators/27TeenAbortions.cfm" rel="nofollow">http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/indicators/27Te ...</a>This isn't a geographical or partisan problem. We need to make sure young women have access to birth control and proper, factual sex education -- hopefully this would cut down on the number of abortions that young women are having.
drmangrumAug 28, 2009
It's not a southern thing. If you look at the states with the highest rates, most have two things in common. Population density and large Hispanic populations (no, that's not a racist observation). Hispanics tend to lead the pack in teen pregnancies.This chart would mean a LOT more if they broke it down into demographics.
drmangrumAug 28, 2009
While latinos do tend to have a higher rate of teen pregnancy, calling it an "anchor baby" is a stretch. Most of those girls are citizens.
Closed AccountAug 28, 2009
Population density means nothing here. Across the board, there isn't even a correlation between density and underage pregnancies. If there was, the entire northeastern metropolis area would be red.
drmangrumAug 28, 2009
It's called basic numbers. If you pack 500 teenagers in a room, they're far more likely to find someone to have sex with than if you pack 50 teenagers in that same room.