US births break record; 40 pct out-of-wedlock (Damn, Bush's abstinence not working??????)

[KansasVoter]

Teen birth rate up! Abstinence not working? How could George Bush be wrong??

ATLANTA – Remember the baby boom? No, not the one after World War II. More babies were born in the United States in 2007 than any other year in the nation's history — and a wedding band made increasingly little difference in the matter. The 4,317,119 births, reported by federal researchers Wednesday, topped a record first set in 1957 at the height of the baby boom.

Behind the number is both good and bad news. While it shows the U.S. population is more than replacing itself, a healthy trend, the teen birth rate was up for a second year in a row.

<snip>

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090319/ap_on_he_me/med_baby_boomlet

[Hello_Kitty]

1. Why is a greater-than-replacement birthrate described as a "healthy trend"?

Healthy for whom? Certainly not the ecology.

:banghead:

[Marsala]

4. The U.S. is faaaaar from Malthusian pressures

We can feed ourselves several times over. A growing population means a more sustainable economy in the medium run.

[Hello_Kitty]

5. How so?

The medium run turns into the long run. If you are arguing that we need more babies now to be a tax base and take care of the elderly population now, understand that those babies will grow old and require an even BIGGER population to sustain them, based on the same model. And so on and so on. Where does it end?

[amandabeech]

7. We won't be able to feed ourselves if we keep paving over more and more good farmland.

More people equals more concrete because you can't force people to live where they don't want to unless we're going to have national zoning. Try getting that through Congress and past the courts.

We can't have a sustainable economy until we get to a sustainable ecosystem. Our agriculture may not be sustainable, either. We already import as much food as we export on a dollar basis, and I don't think that's a good sign.

Another huge cohort of people isn't the answer.

[Cal Carpenter]

14. Do you realize the implication of what you are saying?

That it is more likely or more appropriate to legislate sterilization or other forced birth control than it is to legislate zoning?

Holy shit.

[Joe the Liberal]

2. I never understood why they decide to have kids so young......

I remember seeing a few pregnant girls back in high school about 2 years ago and I always wondered "why do they decide to have kids at this age?"

It just makes no sense, you have your whole life ahead of you to have kids but you decide to have them at 17-19? What future do you have when you're busy caring for a baby when you should be focused on school getting your education?

and not only that but overpopulation is an issue we WILL have to deal with at some point if this trend keeps up.

[PBS Poll-435]

3. I blame the early primary season

:sarcasm:

[Hippo_Tron]

6. I'm sure Sarah Palin is absolutely shocked by this news

:evilgrin:

[woolldog]

8. What's wrong with a high teen birth rate?

That means healthier babies on average doesn't it?

I don't like how the article suggests that's automatically a bad thing.

[MiniMe]

12. Teens without health insurance

and fully mature yet. Physically they are, but they still have a lot of emotional growing to do.

[woolldog]

15. Teens are much more likely to have health insurance than

adults, since they're probably dependents. They are usually still on their parents insurance.

[Zynx]

16. There is more to consider than physical health.

[tanyev]

9. Au contraire.

That means abstinence-only is working exactly as it is designed to work.

[ksoze]

10. The Pope wants a larger increase

[MiniMe]

11. That should be Bush's abstinence only plan

Promoting Abstinence is fine, I'm even fine with the Pope saying that abstinence is the best solution, for birth control or aids. However, the only part is the problem, it is not the only answer, just the best and most effective answer. Promote abstinence, but teach the kids how to take care of themselves if they don't choose it. Same with Aids, promote abstinence, but using condoms is not more dangerous.

In other words, stop lying about it.

[gmoney]

13. Yes, MORE people is always the solution

Something tells me that if we're ever short of people, we can just open the door a bit wider and we'd be flooded with people wanting to live here rather than some third-world hellhole. Upgrade to this second-world hellhole.



"But Marge, New York is a hellhole, and you know how I feel about hellholes!"