Does body acceptance promote lower teen pregnancy and abortion rates?
Teen-agers in the United States are far more likely to get pregnant and get an abortion than their counterparts in Western European countries. Planned Parenthood officials believe that’s because Europeans talk to their teen-agers about sex differently from Americans, viewing it as a public health issue rather than a moral, religious or political matter. And now Planned Parenthood is planning to take Europe’s blunt, matter-of-fact and sometimes humorous approach to teen sexual health and adapt it for Oregon. The ambitious long-term “social marketing” campaign is aimed at changing public attitudes and reducing unwanted teen pregnancies and abortions. The effort is spearheaded by Mary Gossart, education and training director for the Eugene-based Planned Parenthood Health Services of Southwestern Oregon. “The bottom line is the United States and the state of Oregon have the highest teen pregnancy and abortion rates in the industrialized world,” she said. For European youth, it’s clear in t
