This article was originally published in Arkansas Advocate.
Arkansas needs a more robust sexual health education landscape in order to reduce the state’s high rates of teenage pregnancy and births, a coalition of advocates for children’s health and wellbeing asserted in a report published Wednesday.
The report from Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families includes several policy recommendations to “move Arkansas into an age-appropriate and evidence-based continuum of sexual health education.”
AACF formed the coalition in 2022 after releasing data that showed 28 of every 1,000 Arkansas teenagers had given birth, almost twice the national average of 15 per 1,000 teenagers. Only 22% of teenage pregnancies were planned, according to AACF .
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“Through our research for that report, we found that teenagers aren’t any more sexually active here than they are in other states,” last week’s report states. “The key difference is access to contraceptives, especially the most effective kind, and lack of information because sexual health education isn’t required in Arkansas.”