Today’s Youth Are Different

 In the midst of the gloomy stories about our spaced-out culture, a little gem has emerged, which may indicate that a new dawn is slowly emerging.

The data are showing that our younger generation’s attitude toward sexuality and abortion has dramatically changed over the last few years.

The data come from a surprising source – the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute in New York, which was founded as the research arm of Planned Parenthood. Its data have revealed jaw-dropping information for U.S. youth.

  • Between 1988 and 2015, many youth have avoided sexual activity, 22% more boys and 9% more girls have abstained from sexual activity.
  • The pregnancy rate of girls between 15 and 19 years has dropped by 73%.
  • The abortion rate for females between 15 to 19 years of age declined by 82%. In contrast, the abortion rate of females from 35 to 39 years dropped by only 8.5%.
  • Over 10% of pregnant females between 15 and 19 years chose life for their unborn child, rather than the alternative of abortion.

The Canadian Situation

Canada is not among the countries with complete statistics on adolescent sexuality and abortion. Although scarce Canadian studies are not exactly comparable to the U.S., in terms of age range and dates’ records, a decline is apparent. Some data, however, are available from Statistics Canada, as follows:

  • In 1996-1997, 53% of Canadian teens between 15 and 19 avoided sexual activity, increasing to 57% in 2005. The active group in this study included youth who had sexual intercourse once. Before 15 years, abstinence increased from 88% in 1996-1997 to 92% in 2005.
  • Between 1974 and 2019, the pregnancy rate of girls in Canada between 15 and 19 years dropped by 87.2%.
  • The abortion rate for females between 15 to 19 years declined 35.7% between 1996 and 2006.
  • Studies vary but the number of pregnant females between 15 and 19, who chose life for their unborn child rather than abortion, range from 30% to 50% in Canada.

Why this Decline?

 Teens and young adults are more pro-life than the generation before them. This is reflected in the March for Life held each January in Washington, D.C. (except during the pandemic), when over two-thirds of the marchers are 25 years of age and younger. This has unnerved pro-abortion observers. Further, in the November U.S. 2020 election, 16 young, strongly pro-life women were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, defeating in every case, pro-abortion candidates. This was unnerving for the Democratic speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and her party.

Much of this change can be attributed to the consistent, dedicated efforts of the pro-life movement, by way of education, political pressure and strategy, and the wonderful efforts of pregnancy centres, which reach out to help pregnant women in distress.

The needle has moved slowly over the years, mostly unnoticed, but steadily. It is the result of tireless, dedicated effort that these facts have begun to emerge.