The State of Michigan’s Act 451 of 1976 provides guidelines on which sexual education courses in public schools should abide. This piece of legislation states that “a person shall not dispense or otherwise distribute in a public school or on public school property a family planning drug or device”, explaining that “family planning” means the “use of a range of methods of fertility regulation to help individuals or couples avoid unplanned pregnancies.” Although teenage pregnancy rates have decreased due to improved contraceptive usage, Santelli at el. (2007) found that the United States still has high rates of teen pregnancy compared to other developed countries. This law creates a public health issue because prohibiting adolescents from receiving
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Advocacy groups such as The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Planned Pregnancy pushes for government intervention when it comes to teen pregnancy. Although this organization does not explicitly say that governments should allow public schools to give contraception to its students, a publication on The National Campaign’s website called “Counting It Up: What Policymakers Can Do” outlines policymakers’ role in preventing teen pregnancy. The publication gives policymakers recommendations on what they can do to support The National Campaign’s cause by stating facts such as teen and unplanned pregnancies cost American taxpayers $9.4 billion annually, in order to appeal to the policymakers. In general, this organization would be pro-contraceptives in school because of its overall goal to cut down on teen pregnancies and ultimately improve “serious social problems including poverty (especially child poverty), child abuse and neglect, father-absence, low birth weight, school failure, and poor preparation for the workforce. (The National Campaign, n.d.)”Much like the advocacy groups, public health officials seem in favor of allowing young people more access to contraceptives. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention …show more content…
Kenneth Warner noted that state governments have the responsibility to provide for its citizen’s health and welfare. The state government has the power to provide for the health, safety, and welfare of the citizenry (police power) and is supposed to use that power to “defend interests of person incapable of fully informed, rational decisions (ie. children).” Michigan’s teen pregnancy rate for all females in 2013 was 38.2 per 1,000 females aged 15-19. However, between races the disparity was immense. White females aged 15-19 had a pregnancy rate of 26.2 whilst black females of the same age range had a pregnancy rate of 83.2. The disparities were even larger in Detroit, which had a teen pregnancy rate of about 100 for black females. As The National Campaign, the CDC, and other pro contraceptive entities stressed, teen pregnancy can lead to lower achievement and worse health outcomes for teen mothers. Ultimately, this can affect society on a larger scale and worsen poverty, health, financial stability and more. In order to ensure that the future of a state is stable, the government has to intervene in times of major public issues such as
Advocacy groups such as The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Planned Pregnancy pushes for government intervention when it comes to teen pregnancy. Although this organization does not explicitly say that governments should allow public schools to give contraception to its students, a publication on The National Campaign’s website called “Counting It Up: What Policymakers Can Do” outlines policymakers’ role in preventing teen pregnancy. The publication gives policymakers recommendations on what they can do to support The National Campaign’s cause by stating facts such as teen and unplanned pregnancies cost American taxpayers $9.4 billion annually, in order to appeal to the policymakers. In general, this organization would be pro-contraceptives in school because of its overall goal to cut down on teen pregnancies and ultimately improve “serious social problems including poverty (especially child poverty), child abuse and neglect, father-absence, low birth weight, school failure, and poor preparation for the workforce. (The National Campaign, n.d.)”Much like the advocacy groups, public health officials seem in favor of allowing young people more access to contraceptives. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention …show more content…
Kenneth Warner noted that state governments have the responsibility to provide for its citizen’s health and welfare. The state government has the power to provide for the health, safety, and welfare of the citizenry (police power) and is supposed to use that power to “defend interests of person incapable of fully informed, rational decisions (ie. children).” Michigan’s teen pregnancy rate for all females in 2013 was 38.2 per 1,000 females aged 15-19. However, between races the disparity was immense. White females aged 15-19 had a pregnancy rate of 26.2 whilst black females of the same age range had a pregnancy rate of 83.2. The disparities were even larger in Detroit, which had a teen pregnancy rate of about 100 for black females. As The National Campaign, the CDC, and other pro contraceptive entities stressed, teen pregnancy can lead to lower achievement and worse health outcomes for teen mothers. Ultimately, this can affect society on a larger scale and worsen poverty, health, financial stability and more. In order to ensure that the future of a state is stable, the government has to intervene in times of major public issues such as