teen pregnancy

New Mexico has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the nation, and now that the Trump Administration has slashed funding for teen pregnancy prevention projects, researchers here say it’s like the rug has been pulled out from under them.

New Mexico’s teen pregnancy rate has been cut in half over the last two decades, but it remains one of the highest in the country.

New Mexico’s teen birth rate is the lowest ever recorded - that’s according to new statistics from the state Department of Health. But the drop isn’t spread evenly across the state.

KUNM Call In Show 10/1 8a:

Teen pregnancy rates have gone down across the country in recent years, but New Mexico continues to have one of the highest teen birth rates in the nation. 

May is Teen Pregnancy Awareness Month, and since 2000 our state has seen its teen birth rate fall nearly 50 percent for teens age 15 to 17. 

A lot of factors contribute to the drop in teenage parenthood in New Mexico, like expanded access through Medicaid and improvement in birth control.

New Mexico still had the highest teen pregnancy rate in the U.S. last year, but the good news is that it’s declining—here and in the rest of the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a recommendation this week for how to drop the rate even further.